Anchor Point
by Dendroica
Summary: Ten years after the rebellion, Gale wants to forget the war and his childhood in district 12. Until he visits his brother in the Capitol and stumbles upon a ghost from his past. In progress.
1. Friday: College Visit

**A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks for giving this story a try - I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for Belle453 for the beta.**

**The Universe of the Hunger Games & it's characters belong to Suzanne Collins. Original Characters overlap with my story Escaping District 12 but otherwise there's no connection to that story.**

* * *

It took Gale about an hour to find the student housing section of Capitol College. He checked his communicuff again, but the only message was from work. Grudgingly, Gale stopped at the front desk, showed his ID and asked for directions. At least he'd changed out of his uniform.

He stepped onto an empty elevator that glided smoothly up one floor before stopping to let in a pair of girls in short skirts and high boots. Gale readied himself for it. The batted eyelashes, the vapid flirting. He'd been thrown into the spotlight after the rebellion, a posterboy for the post-war military. It wasn't what he'd signed up for, but orders were orders. He'd learned to play the game, to manage the work, but it bled into his already messy personal life. It had been flattering ... and infuriating. Pretty girls thinking they loved him - they didn't even know him.

It didn't come. Other than a smile as they stepped aboard, the girls barely looked at him. Unsure if he was relieved or offended, he pretended to pore over the flyers plastering the wall of the elevator. The brightly colored papers advertised everything from concerts and drink specials at a local bar to some ridiculous "save the muttations" campaign, and everything in between. When Gale was Vick's age, he'd been fighting a war against mutts and Peacekeepers. These kids didn't know how good they had it - no wonder he couldn't relate. He tore down the flyer for the mutts campaign, crumpling it in his hand.

Gale found his way to room 741. A digital screen embedded in the cold metal door showed a picture of two clean-cut boys, academic refugees from district 11 and district 12 - Vick and his roommate Seth. He still couldn't believe Vick was enrolled in a fancy school in the Capitol. Under Paylor, Capitol College has been expanded and opened up to residents from all districts. Who knew Vick had those kind of book smarts?

Gale knocked on the door. A robotic voice asked, "What is your quest?" It wasn't some senseless riddle, just how Vick or his roommate had programmed their door to respond. Gale frowned. Some technology just didn't sit well with him.

Gale asked the door, "Is Vick Hawthorne here? I'm his brother."

The voice answered with a default programmed response, "I'm sorry, but Vick is not home. May I take a message?"

No point in a message. Gale had turned to leave when he heard a thump and muffled voices from the other side of the door. A moment later the door swung open and Vick said, "Hold on, we're here. We haven't left ..."

Vick looked at his brother in confusion. "... yet. Gale! What're you doing here?"

"I told you I was in town," Gale answered testily. "Didn't you get my message?"

Vick glared back. "You said Wednesday. It's Friday."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I sent a message today though?"

Vick held up his arm, showing that he didn't have his communicuff on. "My communicuff's down. I kinda spilled something on it yesterday. Hasn't dried out yet."

Communicuffs didn't usually go on the fritz just from a little spill - more likely Vick had seriously dunked it in something, or worn it in the shower maybe. Gale shrugged it off and said, "Well I'm here now. Thought we could get dinner or something?"

"Uhh, maybe - I don't know ... hold on." Vick looked awkwardly back into the room.

Seth stood near a desk, baggy t-shirt and jeans hiding his stocky frame, a backpack hanging from his shoulder. He shook his head. "Group leaves in 20, man. Your call."

Vick groaned, pissed that Gale had picked now of all times to show up.

"Gale ... I've gotta go. I'm sorry. Maybe next time, okay?"

Gale ran a hand through his short hair. It had been a rough week - a conference on ethics in the military, dredging up all kinds of bad memories from the war. He'd barely slept all week. He'd almost wanted to go home without stopping by to see Vick, but he wouldn't let the fancy university scare him off. He hadn't seen his brother since Vick had come to district 2 for a couple days at the end of the summer, before going back to campus for his second year. Gale could at least take his brother out for a good meal.

He made one last attempt. "I've got a car downstairs. I'll drop you anywhere you want. Can't you meet up with your friends later?"

Vick glanced at Seth, who shrugged.

Vick answered, "I dunno. Could we, uh, drop Seth off and get directions?" Gale nodded in agreement, glad he'd get some time with his youngest brother after all.

Gale watched the boys as they hauled their large backpacks to the elevator. "So where you guys going? Looks like you've got enough gear for a month."

"Camping," Vick said after a pause. Gale's heart sank. He'd always meant to take Vick out into the woods.

"It's with this student group. It's like ... wilderness training, except more fun. They've got s'mores and hot dogs."

Having spent half his childhood relying on illegal hunting to keep his family alive, Gale knew the value of outdoors skills first hand. He should be the one taking his brothers out into the woods, teaching them basic survival skills. But after everything that had happened ... well, he wasn't sure it was such a great idea. Besides, what Vick was describing sounded like a joke. It had to be some kind of put-on. Gale gave his brother an appraising look. "Wilderness training? With s'mores? You're kidding, right?"

Vick rolled his eyes. "Come on Gale, you never let me go near the woods growing up. Seth was going, I figured why not."

Gale didn't like the sound of this weekend excursion, featherbrained games masquerading as serious training, but he let it drop. He was just Vick's brother, not his dad, as Vick wouldn't hesitate to remind him. They loaded the car and he followed Seth's directions to the meeting spot, where about a dozen kids stood around a few cars that were loaded with gear. It looked like what Gale imagined a group of clueless students would look like. Small group standing around chatting while they waited for the stragglers to show up. This late in the fall, the sun was already low in the sky and he could feel a chill in the air. If they were camping anywhere further away than a city park, they wouldn't have any daylight to set up in. _Who in their right mind would start off a camping trip with a bunch of kids at this hour?_

While Seth pulled their bags from the car, Vick ran over to talk with a lanky guy carrying a clipboard. In the meantime, Gale leaned back against the car provided to him by the military and studied the rest of the group. In addition to clipboard guy, a tall girl appeared to be in charge of loading vehicles. Gale guessed she was from district 11, judging by her dark skin. Gale spotted Seth with a pair of girls sitting on the curb by one of the cars. Seeing the boy's cocky stance, Gale started to doubt it was wilderness skills that he and Vick were here for.

Just then his communicuff beeped. Gale glanced at it, wholly expecting some work message that he was already promising to ignore until at least Sunday. Instead, it was a message titled "Fwd: CC Wilderness Outing." Opening the message Gale saw an address and directions for a Red Rocks Campground on the outskirts of the Capitol. Gale glared toward his brother, who was now headed back to the car.

As soon as they were in the car Gale demanded, "You gave him my personal code?"

Vick shrugged. "Yeah, so? The directions were complicated. Figured that was easiest."

"So, I don't want my information getting out to just anybody. Geez, Vick. Do you even know these people?" Gale had already had to change codes a few times when the press or Mockingjay fans got their hands on it and overwhelmed his messages with demands for interviews with Katniss' supposed cousin. Most of that had died in the last few years, but he still couldn't believe his brother would just hand it out to some stranger.

Vick rolled his eyes. "Carlos doesn't even know who you are. And if he did he wouldn't care. Not everybody thinks you're Mr. Bigshot you know."

"Yeah, right" Gale answered sarcastically. "So he's the one leading this little trip of yours? Tell me he's at least from above ground."

"Yeah, yeah. Him and Rose, both from district four. They're down."

Gale watched the road ahead as he asked Vick, "I gotta tell you, from what I see these guys don't know what they're doing. It'll be dark before they even reach this campground. Don't they need some kind of approval to teach you promising minds that kind of stuff?"

Vick stared angrily out the window as campus sped by.

Gale sighed. "I thought we were going to do this together."

Vick rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. I thought so too. I asked you to take me camping last spring, remember? Guess you were too busy."

Another sigh. Vick was right. And Gale hadn't even had a good reason for bailing on the invite. Vick's first camping trip - Gale didn't want to screw it up. It didn't matter; vicious spring storms and flash flood warnings would have cancelled the trip anyway. Defensively Gale answered, "I didn't know it was such a big deal. You want to go camping, we'll go camping. But these guys? They probably don't know the first thing about survival."

Vick's reply was tinged with sarcasm and bitterness. "You want to do this together? Now's your chance. Stick around for the weekend. You can show us how full of crap they are, if that's what you think."

Gale heard the hurt in his voice and knew he was already screwing up this visit. Trying to take a lighter tone he smirked and teased his little brother, saying "Nah, you wouldn't want that. You'd never stand a chance with those girls if I hung around."

"You are such a -" Vick began.

"Hey, don't make me call Ma." Gale interrupted before Vick could fill in the blank. The back and forth broke the tension. Both brothers smiled now.

Vick answered, "Go ahead. I can tell her how you never visit _me_, either."

"I'm visiting you now, genius. I thought you had to be smart to get into this place?"

They continued that way all the way to Gale's favorite Capitol restaurant and well into dinner. Gale was happy to listen as Vick talked endlessly about college - his classes, his friends, even the wilderness group. After a full meal Vick wolfed down a double chocolate caramel brownie as Gale sat back sipping his coffee, content after enjoying his succulent roasted pork ribs.

Reluctantly Gale drove his brother out to Red Rocks campground, fully expecting to find the students at a loss in the dark woods, to pick up Seth and take him and Vick back to campus. Or maybe taking them out himself, showing them what's what. Not that setting up camp for two novices in the dark was his first choice, but it's not as if he needed to rush back to district 2. As the car rolled slowly into the campground, he had to laugh at the place. There were bathroom buildings with running water taps, and parking spots next to orderly campsites with picnic tables and flat open areas for tents. Hardly the location for "wilderness survival." It was ironic - the campground was probably a better place to live than the Seam they'd grown up in.

"Your friends are really roughing it out here." He said.

The campground was largely empty, so they found the three neighboring campsites Vick's group had claimed easily. To Gale's surprise, tents were arranged in two orderly groups with gas-fueled lanterns hung from tree boughs lighting a path between the tents and a bright, crackling bonfire in the middle campsite. Most of the group sat talking around the fire while a couple of people stood filling plates with food from a bounty laid out on the closest picnic table.

"How ..." Gale muttered, as he set the car's parking brake. His curiosity was piqued by the contradictions. The laughable "wilderness," the elaborate set up after their seeming unpreparedness, this was definitely not what he'd anticipated.

Vick grabbed his jacket from the back seat. "Well, thanks for the ride. You know Carlos said you could come too, if you want ..."

"I'm not leaving yet. I at least want to know more about these guys." Gale swung out of the car, stalking silently toward the camp.

Vick jumped out to follow him. "Check out the sweet fire! I hope there's still hot dogs."

Lanky clipboard guy met them before they reached the fire circle, minus the clipboard. From what Vick had said, this must be Carlos. Vick gave him a wave and continued straight to the picnic table. Carlos addressed Gale directly. "Hey, y'all found us! Good, glad you made it. You must be Vick's brother. Sorry we didn't meet earlier. I'm Carlos." He stood eye to eye with Gale, who politely shook the proffered hand.

"Gale. Nice to meet you," Gale answered coolly. "Quite a set-up you all have here."

Carlos smiled good naturedly. "Just lettin' folks have a little fun. No harm there, right? I hope you'll stay. The more the merrier, right?"

"Thanks," Gale said. "What's the deal here? Vick said this is some kind of wilderness survival thing, but I gotta tell you, it doesn't look too wild."

Patiently Carlos explained, "well, this is an intro trip. We can't just throw'em in the deep end. You fought in the rebellion, right? You get it. But these guys, they were just kids during the war. They're not used to having to fight to survive."

"So .. what? You make it a game?"

"Not exactly. We learned pretty fast how easy the students lose interest. This way, they make friends, have a little fun, and pay attention when we get to the serious stuff."

He could see Gale wasn't convinced. He glanced back toward the campfire. "Hey Rose!" he called, jerking his head before turning back to Gale. "Look, we're not perfect. But we try. Why don't you hang around? "

Carlos introduced Rose, the woman who'd been loading the cars back at the meeting spot. The firelight highlighted her striking features and reflected in her eyes. "Rose, this is Vick's brother Gale. Gale, Rose. The program is her brainchild, really."

"General," she nodded.

"Just Gale," he answered with a frown. He thought he recognized her, but since he couldn't place from where he worried that he might be thinking of some other district 11 woman. "Do we know each other?" he asked.

Rose smiled. "I'm surprised you remember. We met in 2, right after the war. I was in Templemore's group."

Templemore's group. They'd been one of the better squads he worked with. She'd seen a lot of action. He still wasn't convinced her little wilderness program was any good, but he had to at least give her some benefit of the doubt. Both Rose and Carlos seemed eager to have him stay, and he really did want to spend more time with Vick, so he agreed to hang around, see how they ran things.

Gale wasn't fond of fire. More bad memories. But he had learned to deal with it. There were plenty of things from his past he didn't want to face. But fire was a necessity in the woods, so his survival instinct had forced him to adjust. He followed Rose over to the group. She grabbed two cokes, handing one to Gale. "Sorry, no beer. We don't allow it." Gale shrugged.

Sitting by the fire, Rose chatted easily about life in the Capitol and the wilderness group. When Gale asked how they'd set up camp in the dark, she laughed. "We didn't. Runa and Spinner set it up before Carlos and I brought the students out." She gestured to where the two were sitting across the circle.

"Friends from the Capitol?" Gale asked. He'd noticed them before - no way NOT to notice the girl. His earlier glance had told him she was Capitol through and through, starting with her wavy hair dyed to look like flames, particularly effective in the firelight. He wondered if the effect lost its power in daylight. The guy - compact, muscular, brown hair and eyes - could probably blend in anywhere. He'd be great for special ops, Gale thought, looking more closely at the pair. Their clothing was styled for the Capitol, but that wasn't a surprise. Some tattooed design snaked up from under Runa's long sleeved shirt, weaving its way up her neck to the side of her face and along her hairline. It was her face that he found himself staring at. She looked familiar somehow, but he couldn't place her. Maybe she'd been with Rose in 2.

Rose didn't seem to notice his staring. Maybe she was just used to it; that kind of appearance invited plenty of attention. She explained, "Spin's from four. We met Runa here. I know what you're thinking, but trust me. For being from the Capitol, she's got serious skills." Rose filled him in on how startled they were when the younger kids at the College seemed so carefree and clueless about the war. They'd learned about it in school, and even remembered it, but as the years passed, the younger the students got and the more sheltered they'd been. They didn't have the survivalist mindset. Rose explained how wrong it had seemed that such a change would happen so quickly. Gale was only half listening, his attention on the puzzling woman sitting across the fire.

It wasn't until later, when she absently tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and smoothed her hands across her pants that it came to him. Madge Undersee. She was a dead ringer for her, minus a decade and all the Capitol decoration. If he didn't know better, he would swear he was sitting not four meters from Madge Undersee. Except that Madge Undersee had been dead for ten years.

* * *

Vick helped himself to the food available at the camp. As Ma said, he was a growing boy. He was busy getting pointers from Andrea on how to roast a s'more when he saw Gale join the bonfire with Rose. He hoped it meant Gale was staying. Gale seemed friendly enough with Rose - Vick hoped she could convince him they knew what they were doing. Maybe then Gale would stop criticizing the wilderness group so much. Vick didn't understand why Gale couldn't just relax and have a little fun.

It was cute how Andrea kept explaining how to slowly roast the marshmallows over the coals of the fire, but Vick liked burning them better. The taste of charred sugar wasn't so bad. He even forced one of his burnt up s'mores into Gale's hand, since Andrea and her friend didn't want to help eat them, though they were happy to watch his marshmallow roasting. The other girl - _what was her name again?_ - shrieked every time one caught on fire.

Vick was still half-expecting Gale to take off back into the Capitol, but Gale surprised him by agreeing to stay the night. Carlos offered Gale a space in one of the guy's tents, but was turned down. Instead Gale borrowed a bivy sack to sleep under the stars. Following his brother as he scoped possible places to lay his bag out, Vick was glad to hear about Rose's invitation and Gale's decision to stay for the weekend. Gale didn't explain all his reasons for staying to Vick. He didn't tell him about having met Rose before, or about his confused suspicion over Runa's past.

Before heading back to his tent, Vick joked, "don't go sneaking over to the girls' tents. You might get me in trouble."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Gale answered innocently.


	2. Saturday: Survival

Vick woke up early on account of the sunrise gleaming through the thin fabric of the tent. Or maybe thanks to the rock poking into his side. Or the pain in his back from sleeping on the hard ground. Next time he'd bring an air mattress. Seth was still out cold, so Vick slipped out of the tent with about as much grace as a rutting warthog. Wandering back over toward the campfire circle, he found Spinner and Gale sat near a low fire, talking quietly at the circle with steaming mugs in hand.

"Coffee?" Spinner offered.

* * *

As soon as Spinner left to go find Rose, Gale questioned his brother more about the group leaders, but Vick didn't have that much to tell. He'd only seen them at a campus-wide activities fair; this camping trip was his first real time with them. Gale asked Vick if he knew anything about Runa.

"What? No. Saw her at the demo they did on campus. She can handle her weapons, that's for sure. Pretty fierce." Grinning slyly Vick added, "That what you go for these days? No wonder you don't bring anyone home to Ma."

"It's not like that," Gale said, turning over an image in his mind. The fading fragment of his dream, chasing her through still-burning ruins of district 12, bombs raining down around her. Runa. Madge. Whoever.

It wasn't real. It hadn't happened. But the sight of the woman at the fire last night had so unmoored him, she had inserted herself into his memories, into his dreams. "This sounds crazy but ... I think she's from 12."

"Beyond crazy. Have you seen her? No WAY she's from the Seam, and only about five townies even survived. You know that. The only girl even close is Delly, and ... well Delly is no Runa. Besides she's in 13 now."

A day ago Gale would have agreed. Now he wasn't convinced. He didn't even know if Madge's body had been found, or if she'd just disappeared and been assumed dead. "Yeah, I must be wrong... don't say anything, okay?"

Soon the fire circle was full of life again. After everyone had gotten something to eat, Rose explained the plan for the day. They'd start with the basic physical needs for survival: food, water, shelter and warmth. Rose would teach sheltering, Carlos would tackle warmth, and Spinner and Runa together would address food and water. The twelve students were split into three groups of four to rotate through the lessons. They'd have two sessions, then break for lunch and games before finishing in the afternoon. Once the groups were decided, Gale agreed to tag along with Vick and Seth's group.

The groups dispersed from the fire circles to stations the instructors set up in empty campsites and picnic areas. Their group's first session was with Carlos. Warmth. He started off with basic structures for building fires, how to select good materials, and had the group collect firewood and kindling from the forest around them. Gale took a pass on building his own fire - no need to waste the kindling - and watched as Vick and the others made rookie mistakes, not letting in enough air, trying to build up too quickly. As Vick struggled to get too-big pieces of wood to catch from his burning kindling, Carlos went from person to person to help out with any problems. Gale pulled some smaller pieces of wood from the pile and cracked them into smaller pieces for his brother's fire.

Once everyone had a decent fire started, Carlos demonstrated additional challenges they could face - wind and rain, damp wood, lack of matches or other firestarter. They didn't have time to really get into starting a fire without matches, but Carlos briefly covered some options before recommending back-up matches. Carlos ended the session with a discussion about the importance of keeping dry and how wet conditions exacerbate cold - including appropriate clothing and how to check for quick-drying and insulating fabrics. Gale hadn't learned anything new, but he had to admit Carlos had done a pretty good job of covering the basics. The students couldn't learn everything in such a short time, but he'd given them things to practice and something to build upon.

Next their group headed off to another campsite to learn about food and water from Spinner and Runa. Gale hadn't known what to do sitting across a campfire from Madge Undersee's ghost. He'd watched her like he watched his prey in the forest.

Like in his dream, the image of the Mayor's daughter morphed in front of him, his mind playing tricks on him again. In the daylight, her tattoo gleamed oddly - revealing some strangely rutted texture hidden in the red, gold, and black arcs. Weird. Her hair was just as fiery as the night before. Her face - it hadn't been a trick of the firelight. It really could be Madge's face. He hated to think back on the mayor's daughter - he couldn't separate those memories from the ones of Katniss.

Now he would listen for a sign, like the faint crunch of leaves under a deer's foot. Runa, for her part, gave no indication she recognized Gale. She barely looked at him. She started off the session with how people lost in the wilderness always put too much emphasis on food. "You can survive days, sometimes even weeks without food. Water is what you should really worry about," she told the students severely. "So that's what we'll spend our time on." She and Spinner talked about finding and purifying water. They explained to rely on springs and streams instead of lakes and ponds, how to use topography and cues from plants and animals to help find water, and ways to collect rainwater and dew if no other water source is available.

_Was it Madge's voice?_ As she spoke, he dissected her speech, looking for clues. On the surface her voice was Capitol, like the rest of her. Was it his imagination that conjured a bit of the district twelve twang there too? Something in the "a" sound.

If only there was a piano around, he thought wryly. He still considered it a stupid way to spend time, but he'd never heard anyone play like she had. That he would recognize.

Gale's mind wandered until Runa pulled out five bottles of water, and asked everyone to individually rank them based on which they'd want to drink. Two were pretty murky and brown, another was clear but tinged green, and two were relatively clear. Gale knew it was an impossible question, but sat back to see where the lesson went. The students scribbled their answers, then had to come to an agreed ranking as a group. Vick and his friends talked it out - they had all picked the clear two first, then the green one, then the brown ones. Spinner and Runa stayed out of the discussion until Andrea complained, "but we don't know how they were collected."

Spinner grinned. "You didn't ask."

The students groaned. Runa and Spinner got them to order the bottles first, allowing for ties. Then Spinner gave them the extra information. He explained that Bottle A (one of the murky brown bottles) had been collected from a stream and boiled. Bottle B was also murky and brown, but had been collected from a hole dug in the ground and hadn't been boiled. Bottle C, the greenish one, was from a lake (not boiled). Bottle D, clear was the same as Bottle B, just filtered. Bottle E, collected rainwater.

They started over based on the new information, and it didn't take long for the students to remember enough of rules to settle on a new ranking with the filthy-looking bottle A near the top of the list. Spinner gave them a few "what if" questions to hunt out any confusion.

They were almost out of time, and still hadn't said anything about food. When they asked for questions and none of the students spoke up, Gale intervened. "Any advice for not starving?"

Runa looked at him for a moment before turning to the students and answering, "Don't eat plants unless you know - really know - they're safe. Even then, they're easy to confuse so test small doses. Most animals are fine to eat, as long as you can safely kill and cook them. Any other questions?" She glanced pointedly to Gale before looking around the rest of the group. No questions.

Spinner chimed in. "Okay everyone, time for a break. Follow me back to the campsite."

Runa hung back to put their supplies away, so Gale took his time following the others. He'd never been good at letting sleeping dogs lie. "Nice lesson," he muttered just loud enough as he pushed himself up from the picnic table.

Glaring at him Runa hissed, "Rose invited you to stay. So fine, follow those kids around, sit in on our little workshop. But drop the superior attitude, okay? You may know everything there is to know about survival, but these kids don't have a clue."

_It was Madge,_ he thought. She knew how he'd kept his family alive, how he'd practically grown up fending for himself in the woods. Or maybe she was just some entitled Capitol wannabe who had turned on a broadcast sometime in the last ten years, and recognized the military's spokesman. Or Rose had mentioned his military training. Occam's razor would say the third. His gut disagreed.

The problem was, he didn't know which Runa was, but he did feel superior. He felt superior to all of them. He thought about reminding her who she was talking to, but this wasn't about military rank. Gale looked into her unnaturally violet eyes. "Didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Princess."

She smiled. "Liar. Look, I could care less. I just don't want your negativity rubbing off on these kids. And my name is Runa." She turned on her heel, stalking back toward the campsites.

Gale watched as she walked up the forest path. For a moment a swath of midday sun glinted through the trees and lit up her fiery hair. Fake hair, fake eyes. Who knew what else was fake. "Who's lying now?" Gale asked, too quietly to be heard.

* * *

When Gale arrived back at the campsite, some of the students were already kicking around a soccer ball. After a few passes, the ball headed Vick's way.

"Heads up Gale!" Vick shouted as he swung his leg, sending the ball directly towards Gale. Already watching, Gale had just enough time to hop backward and stop the ball gracefully.

"Cheap shot!" Gale called back with a laugh, kicking the ball back to Vick. "Trying to take me out? Scared I'll take you down a notch?"

"Get out here, we need more players!" Vick answered. Gale loped out to join the game, trying to put Runa and Madge out of his mind.

After a rousing match that tired Gale more than he would have admitted, they filled up on mediocre sandwiches. Rose slid into the chair at the end of the table, next to him. "How's it going?" she asked.

_Your friend is a fraud_, Gale thought. Aloud he joked, "Well I'm glad haven't slacked on my conditioning. Otherwise little bro here might've done me in on the soccer field." More seriously he added, "Good. It's been ... very interesting."

"Come on, you can admit it - you must be bored. You know the basics forward and backward, as well as any of us," Rose said quietly. Probably hoping the pupils didn't overhear. Gale nodded absently and Rose continued, "really I'm amazed you're still here. I know it's way below your pay grade."

"No, no. You've got a good idea here. I should apologize for crashing your party. I've been meaning to take Vick camping ... just never found the time."

* * *

Vick jogged over to the stream where Andrea was collecting water. The bucket was almost full, though the water was a little murky. "Oh, nice. Let me get that," he said picking up the bucket.

"I can get it," she griped.

"I know but if I let you carry it and my brother sees us I'll never hear the end of it," Vick grinned.

She shrugged, letting him keep the bucket. "Fine. I hope it's enough."

He followed Andrea back to their makeshift camp where Seth was working on a fire, lugging the water to boil and purify. After attending Rose's capable session on sheltering, the groups were spending the afternoon with a group challenge, a race of sorts: each group, under the supervision of one of the instructors had to collect and boil water, and to plan a shelter (they didn't have to actually build a shelter, that could take hours).

Seth and the others had finally gotten a few small logs to catch, and they filled their pot with water and set it over the hottest part of the fire. And waited. Several yards away Gale and Spinner were perched on a fallen tree trunk, talking amiably as they watched the group work. Earlier Gale had helped build up their woodpile after their fire almost died for the second time, as the larger pieces of wood had at first refused to catch. Spinner checked in on them, looking down into the pot as they waited for the water to boil.

"It's taking forever," Seth complained. Vick agreed it seemed way too long, but eventually the water boiled. Spinner made sure the water had been at a roiling boil for a couple of minutes before allowing them to take it off the fire. Finally, when the water was cooled off and everyone had a drink, they declared victory and headed back to the main camp, Spinner in the lead.

Despite his trouble with the fire, Seth wanted to stay out in the woods and learn to eat off the land. "Runa said to eat animals but all I've seen is squirrels and rabbits."

Vick answered, "Hey, I grew up on squirrel and rabbit." Seeing Seth's incredulous look, he said, "What? Without Gale's snares and hunting we would've starved. Go ahead, ask him. Hey, maybe we can get him to show us some snares."

* * *

Vick stretched the small aches from his fingers. It had taken awhile but he could finally duplicate the knots that Gale had been showing them. He was in the supply tent returning the extra rope when he heard the hushed voices from outside the tent.

"... too advanced, Carlos. I don't want to change things just because he's here."

"You know what connections he must have. If he saw ..."

They had to be talking about Gale. Vick stood perfectly still, hoping they weren't on their way into the tent. He didn't want to be caught listening in.

"It would be irresponsible, putting weapons in untrained hands. And he'd know that," he heard, a little louder than before.

Carlos wheedled, "but he's the one showing them knots for snares. And Spinner said he asked about food during their workshop. What about a demo? Just us. The students would love it."

Vick listened to the crunch of leaves as Rose and Spinner walked off in some unknown direction. He wanted to go tell his friends, but then Carlos and Rose would know they'd been overheard. He waited a few minutes before sneaking out of the tent and back to the group. On his way he pulled a few cokes from the cooler, offering them around when he reached the fire circle. None of the instructors were around.

* * *

Gale was laughing at Vick's imitation of Seth trying to build a fire when Rose came over to address the group. "Hi everyone. I hope you're having fun. We have a little surprise for you tonight. First I want to say, you all know we are NOT teaching weapons this weekend. You don't need them."

Gale wondered if that was true. Mutts, wild dogs - attacks weren't common, but they weren't unheard of either.

Rose continued, "But, you all did so well with the challenge this afternoon, we have some extra daylight. So we're going to give you a demo, to see what kinds of things you can learn in our program."

After she finished the announcement, Rose approached Gale. "Mind helping me set up?"

Gale wondered why the other instructors couldn't help, but acquiesced and followed Rose toward the road. When they were out of hearing distance she said apologetically, "We usually don't do weapons at all on this trip, but Carlos thought it would be a good way to fill the time. I'd appreciate your help setting up, but that's not why I asked. I didn't want to put you on the spot back there - younger brother's expectations and all."

"What's going on?" Gale asked.

"I'm sorry. I'm not sure - we've never had an expert out here. We're going to do some knife-throwing and archery - I don't want to dig out all the sparring gear. Since you shoot, I just wanted to ... well, I know you're just here for your brother, but if you want to shoot, you can. The students all have to sign a waiver and go through safety training before they touch anything." As they reached an old beat up truck, she pulled a set of keys from her pocket and unlocked the back.

Gale answered. "Thanks for the offer, but I don't know. I don't have my bow with me."

"Right, of course. You could use one of the guys', but - it wouldn't be as good, I'm sure. Don't worry about it."

"Are all of you shooting?" he asked as she climbed into the back of the truck. Gale expected Rose to be capable at both given her background, but he was curious about the others. Especially Runa.

Rose began handing equipment from inside the truck bed out to Gale. "Probably. We all have our specialties but for showing beginners it doesn't really matter. Archery is hard, you know - any distance worth the challenge is too far for them to easily see both the archer and target. We'll start with a short-range demo and then do some long-distance after."

"Makes sense. You do this a lot? Vick said something about a demo on campus."

Rose pushed a box out from the depths of the truck and hopped down to the ground. "Recruiting events, and later for training. Like I said, this is unusual."

The two of them carried the equipment over to the edge of the field where they had played soccer earlier. Carlos was there waiting and immediately took the box Gale carried. Gale noticed Runa and Spinner setting up targets on the far side of the field, and decided to stick around as they set up, talking with Carlos and Rose. Soon Runa and Spinner walked back across the field to join them. They pulled their bows from their cases, checking them over. Gale walked over to get a closer look at their bows, and at Runa.

"May I?" Gale asked. Spinner dropped his bow into Gale's outstretched hand. Gale watched Runa out of the corner of his eye, checking over her own equipment meticulously and stretching out her arms, as he handled Spinner's bow. It was a good quality bow, but Rose was right - it wasn't like his. He was spoiled by Beetee's special bows, designed specifically for him. Gale was just handing the bow back when Vick ran up next to him, eyebrows raised high.

With a mixture of confusion and excitement he exclaimed, "You're shooting too? Wait 'til Seth hears!"

"Actually ..." Gale started to tell his brother he wasn't going to, but stopped himself when he saw the look on his brother's face. "I was about to ask Spinner if I could use his bow."

"You could," Spinner answered, "but Carlos' would probably fit you better."

Carlos glanced over and nodded toward his case. "Help yourself."

"Sweet," Vick exclaimed.

The demonstration began soon after, when the students were gathered around. Carlos was the obvious natural with the knife, they all hit their targets consistently. Nothing about Runa's knife-throwing was exceptional, but she was more competent than he'd expect from a Capitol citizen - or Madge Undersee, for that matter. Gale found he was watching her rather than the demonstration. Looking for clues, he told himself. The archery demo was where things got interesting. Each of them had their own set of arrows with different color fletching so they could be easily distinguished. Gale gathered that they did these demonstrations regularly. Carlos and Rose started off showing the basics using a close-range target. Then Carlos handed his bow off to Gale who stepped up with Spinner and Runa to demonstrate with the long-distance targets.

They took turns launching their arrows at the targets across the field. The first round, Gale was focused merely on getting his own arrow to the target. He took his time, stretching the bowstring, adjusting to the weight and flexibility of the strange bow in his hand, forcing himself to breathe properly. Hearing the satisfying thunk of the arrow as it hit the target, Gale allowed himself to relax.

Then he stepped back to watch Runa send her arrows flying. She pressed her lips together in a thin, focused line and sighted on the farthest target. He could see she was confident of her ability. Her technique stopped him in his tracks. Not its quality, but the style. He saw it immediately, the way she held the bow, pointing her index finger to steady the arrow. It wasn't really necessary, and nobody taught that style in the military. But it was how he had learned, because that was how Katniss shot. He barely heard her arrow as it squarely hit the target, too distracted by what he'd just seen.

It was possible, he supposed, that other people shot with the same style. But he'd rarely seen it in anyone skilled. What were the odds that a Madge look alike had somehow learned to shoot the same way as Madge's childhood friend? It couldn't be coincidence.

It couldn't.

After, Gale went with Spinner to break down the targets and collect their arrows. The gold and red fletching of Runa's arrows showed her aim had been as true as his. They collected everything and walked it back across the field.

On their return, Gale handed Runa her arrows. "Well shot."

Without a glance she took them and replied, "try not to sound so surprised."

"Do all Capitol girls learn archery then? I had no idea," he said, leaning against the closest tree. He wondered if she would admit who she really was.

Calmly she said, "No, not all of us. We're no different from the districts. Not now."

"That's right. Not now. Tell me what was it like, growing up in the Capitol, being one of the privileged few?" He was rather pleased with the question, believing it contained her lie and her truth all in one - Madge had been the most privileged girl in district 12. Would she get defensive? Would she let something slip?

She looked at him appraisingly. "When I was old enough to understand? It killed me."

Gale's eyes narrowed. "Not like it killed us," he replied bitingly.

She looked away nodding sadly. "I guess that's true." She leapt to her feet and walked off toward the truck with her bow and quiver.

Had Gale imagined the tears in her eyes? Could Madge really have lied to his face so easily? Maybe it was all coincidence. He began to regret his words. But when he reached the campfire, she was sitting with Carlos, laughing along with the rest of them. And he'd actually started to worry. He wasn't going to let her get to him though. Putting her out of his thoughts he found a spot with Vick and the others, ready to join the fun. Vick had already started boasting about his brother's hunting, telling his friends old stories about Gale's exploits from the woods and from the war.

* * *

**Authors Note: Thanks everyone for reading, reviewing, following, & otherwise supporting this story! :) Thanks to Belle453 for her feedback & comments on a draft.**


	3. Sunday: Distractions

Gale was already on his second cup of coffee, glad for its warmth. He'd woken up with a chill, packed up his things and the borrowed bivy sack. The sky was bright but the sun still hid below the horizon.

"How're they doing? You think they've learned anything?" Gale asked.

Spinner laughed easily. "We're not done yet, but I hope so. They're a good group of kids. The real question is how many of them stick with the program." Spinner answered. "What do you think? How are _we_ doing?"

Gale smiled. It had to have been awkward for them, having him here, but they'd been gracious about it. And he'd had fun, more fun than he'd had in a long time, despite the whole situation with Runa. He found he liked and respected the soldiers from district four. "It's a good set-up. Not how I'd do it, but it seems to be working for you."

He asked about their plans for the day, which Spinner explained were mostly on the topic of navigating in the woods and how to not get lost. Gale told him he would be leaving after breakfast. He had to get back home to district two. He had to return the car to the motor pool, deal with paperwork so he'd be ready for work the next day, buy some groceries for his empty refrigerator.

"Sorry you have to leave so soon ... so do you think you might join us again sometime?"

"I don't know, I guess if Vick keeps up with it I might. If I'm not in the way. I always thought I'd be the one to teach my brothers how to do these things - to camp and hunt. Do you have any siblings?"

"Of a sort," Spinner said. He explained, "Carlos' brother. We're like family." He looked around the empty campsite and said, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure?"

"How often do you come to the Capitol?" Spinner asked him.

Gale shrugged. "Work brings me out once every couple months."

"Really, wow. Do you get out much when you're here?"

"Not really my scene. Why do you ask?"

"No offense, but you don't seem too fond of Capitol types that's all. They're not all the same you know."

"Yeah, I know," Gale replied brusquely.

"Do you? Because Runa's done nothing wrong, and you were a little harsh with her yesterday. Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. She didn't deserve that. And if you were to stop by and see us again ... I'd just ask you keep that in mind. Sir."

Gale shook his head, ruing his carelessness. Somehow when he came toe to toe with that woman, he lost all subtlety. "No need for titles, Spinner." After a pause he continued, "You're from four, right? A career district?"

"Yep. So ... I guess I can't possibly understand, is that it? You're right, I'm sure I don't. But you think you understand us? Because, what, you live in district two now?"

"I didn't say ..." Gale sighed. He didn't want to start a fight, but he couldn't tell Spinner why he'd been so antagonistic with Runa. Maybe he could use this to his advantage. "I'm sorry about that. She just looks so _Capitol_, it's hard to see past that. For seventy five years they treated our deaths as entertainment - it doesn't just go away. Not easily anyway."

"You hold all that against every Capitolite you meet?" Spinner asked drily.

"Maybe I do. Until they prove me wrong. What's her story then? She doesn't really seem like the survivalist type, if you know what I mean."

"Looks can be deceiving. Let's just say it wasn't all sunshine and flowers."

"What happened?"

"Not my story to tell, man."

Gale knew he wouldn't get anything more, not directly at least, and people were starting to mill about the campsite, coming over in search of coffee. He changed the topic. "Sorry. So, Rose said you've been here - what - three years? You two came here together right? I take it you're ... "

Spinner nodded. "Almost ten years. She's my one and only," he said, a small smile on his lips. "We're in SEP - the soldier education program. Damn lucky to both get in."

Gale was familiar with the program. One of Paylor's ideas, it sponsored a class of rebellion soldiers at the college every year. Setting down his empty coffee mug he said, "That's great. So you're all in SEP together?"

"No, just me and Rose. Runa's a year ahead of us at the college. Carlos came for work, a couple years before us."

"Runa's not military. Right." It was obvious, but with her weapons skills he'd overlooked it.

Spinner looked at Gale curiously. "You're joking right? You do realize how few Capitol natives have been allowed in the military?"

"So where'd she train?"

Spinner smirked. "You'll have to ask her about that. Though she filled in the gaps with us - she showed up to our very first survival weekend. We had a pretty grueling agenda at the time. We didn't know what we were doing, how to reach the students. Anyway, that's how we met Runa. She was the only student that kept up with us, not to mention the only one we ever saw again." Spinner chuckled at the memory. "Been with us ever since."

For breakfast, Gale pulled a bar at random from the box of fruity breakfast bars on the picnic table. Blueberry. He wasn't fond of the fake fruit flavors in the bars, but it did give him an idea. Inspired, he dug around in the box a little more until he found what he was looking for.

Runa was sitting close to the fire, coffee in hand. Gale walked over.

"Can I sit here?" he asked her. She waved him into the chair next to hers.

With Spinner already on his case, Gale knew he'd have to watch his step. "I'm sorry if I crossed a line yesterday," Gale said. "Peace offering?" He offered her the blueberry bar. "Unless you'd prefer strawberry." He gestured to the second bar.

She eyed the bar for a second, then said "No, blueberry's fine."

Too bad. Gale read into it all the possible motivations for Runa or Madge to pick blueberry before chastising himself for overthinking such a stupid detail. She'd taken the bar, now what? Gale couldn't just ask about her survival training, no more than he could accuse her of being Madge. Well, he thought, she drew attention to herself with the Capitol decoration. Her hair was the color of the autumn leaves around them, or the fire she was huddled near. It was a start.

He joked, "I'd warn you to sit further from the fire but you look like you've already caught flame."

She answered, "cold mornings like this you can feel winter coming. I'm just keeping warm." Not exactly inviting conversation.

An old saying came to Gale's mind. "Autumn's fire burns slowly along the woods and day by day the dead leaves fall and melt," he recited. It was a pretty image that suited her and the woods around them, though he remembered it because _melt_ never sat right with him. _Melt_ contradicted the crunch of dried out husks of leaves on the forest floor. The sound that gave away the movements of his prey.

The corner of her mouth turned up. "Time is the fire in which we all burn," she answered whimsically. "Hopefully, more slowly than the autumn."

It sounded a little morbid. "And then?" he asked.

"And then - if you make it through winter, spring comes. The phoenix rises, life begins anew," she answered.

Gale had no response, but refusing to let the conversation lapse he commented, "That's an unusual tattoo. It reminds me of a stylist I used to know." Runa's tattoo was far more elaborate than Venia's gold design. He wondered just how extensive it was, watching the spot where it disappeared beneath her neckline. He suddenly realized what caused the strange skin texture under parts of the design. Before he'd thought it might be some new Capitol invention, but he saw now that it was scarred skin. Maybe old burns. He looked away quickly as new possibilities flooded his thoughts. She hid scars under a tattoo? Had Madge lived through the bombing?

Runa seemed not to have noticed his revelation. "Venia ..." Runa murmured. "Poor woman."

"What?" Gale wasn't expecting that. It occurred to him that Madge would have met Venia in district 12, after Katniss won her first games. Then again, it would be just like a Capitolite to identify with a vapid stylist.

"That's who you mean, isn't it? Gold tattoo. Not many stylists survived the war. You knew her?"

"Why do you feel sorry for her?" Sorry was something he'd never felt for them, though Katniss had - when they'd found Venia and the other stylists in that district 13 dungeon. He hadn't understood why Katniss cared.

"I feel sorry for anyone who was a part of the games. Even stylists," Runa answered.

He kept his voice neutral. "Stylists chose to be part of the games."

"You think everyone in the Capitol had real freedom. Besides, you don't know their motivations."

"Next you'll be sympathizing with Peacekeepers."

She looked at him appraisingly, long enough for him to stare back defiantly. Then she turned to the fire and answered, "some of them" so quietly he wasn't sure at first what she'd said.

That silenced him. Her words were like an accusation, exhuming another long-buried memory. The one Peacekeeper he missed, with red hair and laughing eyes. Darius. He didn't remember Darius stepping in during the whipping. He just knew from what the others had told him. He'd never be able to thank the man who had saved his life. Madge knew about that, too.

After a moment she stood. "Well aren't we full of sunshine and posies today? It is way too early for this." Crumpling the wrapper from her breakfast in her hand she said, "I hate these bars, they're too sweet. They taste nothing like the real fruit. Are you done?" He held up his empty wrapper, and she took it from him and walked away. He shook his head, not sure what to make of her. She was strong, smart, skilled ... beautiful. But he couldn't trust her.

After breakfast Gale said his goodbyes. He told Vick that the wilderness group was alright. He wanted to say something about Runa, but there were too many other people around. Gale would talk to him about it later. He told Vick to call him when they get back to campus. Then he thanked Rose for 'everything' and shook hands with the other instructors Runa included.

The lonely drive home passed faster than usual, his thoughts occupied with everything that had happened over the weekend. When he was home in his apartment in 2 after he'd returned the car to motor pool, he hopped onto his computer and looked her up. The Capitol College directory listed a dozen Runas. Only two had started school four years ago: Runa Bihar and Runa Demeges, both from the Capitol. One a biotechnology major, the other psychology. He should have asked about her classes.

If Madge were in hiding, why would she draw attention to herself? He opened a new file and started writing. For the moment, he wanted to get down any details that might help him work out whether Runa was who she claimed. He was still staring at his notes when the phone rang. Gale answered on the first ring. It was Vick.

Vick was full of energy, excited about the weekend's adventures. Gale was glad to hear his brother's enthusiasm, though it made him regret having to leave early. Vick told Gale about the navigation exercise, how Runa had supervised Vick and his group. How she'd helped them use a compass to find their way, how she'd told them about the plants they came across. He went on and on. Gale didn't mind, hoping he might learn more details to tell him if she was Madge. He encouraged Vick's stories with leading questions - not just for clues about Runa, but also to hear his brother's happiness.

"They're just friends you know. Runa and Carlos," Vick's voice crackled through the phone.

Gale rolled his eyes. "Vick, I told you, I'm not interested ..."

"Who said I meant for you? She's hot. And she was really nice. Think I'd have a chance?"

Was he serious? Gale told him, "Vick, I don't think that's a good idea ..."

"I think she likes me, Gale. I'm gonna ask her out. Do you think she'd like that restaurant we went to?"

"Vick, I'm serious."

Then Gale heard faint giggling in the background. "Vick?"

Vick relented. "Gale relax. I'm joking." To whomever was listening in Vick said. "He totally bought it."

* * *

Work went on. Every day Gale typed Runa's name into their system search, and every day he closed the window without running the search. He tried not to think about her, about the past in district 12, but the girl by the fire stuck with him.

He looked into records for Madge. By all official accounts she was dead. The records listed 5 bodies recovered from the Mayor's house. They were attributed to the 3 Undersees and 2 staff. There'd been no reason to suspect anything else. Gale had been lucky to find that much.

Regrettably Gale had to admit he'd been pretty awful to Madge in district 12. He'd resented anyone from town, even before Katniss won the games. His jealousy of the free time Madge could spend with Katniss while he slaved in the mines had only made things worse.

One night it came to him, his last conversation with Madge. It was the day of the Quell reaping. They'd both hurried to the Justice Building for their chance to say their goodbyes. But the Peacekeepers wouldn't let them in. Even Madge couldn't get through. Even Prim and Mrs. Everdeen. And the Mellarks. Gale had rushed to the train station, hoping for another chance. But the train was gone before he got there. As he walked back into town, he'd run into Madge, her eyes puffy with the tears he refused to give in to.

_They'd both been devoted to helping Katniss prepare - now that job was done. She started to ask if he'd gotten there in time, and then she cut herself off. She must have seen the answer in his expression. "She loves you," Madge had told him. She said it so forcefully. He wanted to believe it. They'd stood awkwardly for a minute before she said, hesitantly, "Well, see you around I guess?"_

_He hadn't met her eyes. He'd replied flatly. "I don't think so." Turned and walked away._

_"If there's anything I can do ... " her voice chased after him._

_But he wasn't listening to her. He kept on walking._

That was the last time they'd spoken.

Until this weekend, on a camping trip in the Capitol. He couldn't get rid of the feeling that Runa was Madge, but he couldn't bring himself to investigate her. He dealt with ethics all the time, and he knew the right thing was to report the suspected fraud and be done with it. He couldn't bring himself to do it, though. Vick would be furious. He'd be betraying Rose. He wasn't sure he'd be too happy about it himself. He needed to know more. If it was Madge, how had she survived? Why was she hiding?

He'd practically forgotten the conference that had taken him to the Capitol in the first place. After every one of these gatherings a slew of invitations would show up from other attendees trying to leverage their new connections - working groups, lecture series, expert panels. Usually they were rejected out of hand, but he didn't have another trip to the Capitol scheduled for 7 weeks. It was too long to wait - by then Vick would be headed home to district 12 for his semester break. So Gale sorted through the invites and found one for a lecture series in the Capitol. The invitation was for a spring series 6 months out, but he sent back an encouraging message, mentioning that he'd be available to come in the coming weeks. The next day he had an invitation to speak about the ethics of surveillance technology any of three dates over the coming month. Gale wrote back accepting a Thursday lecture in two weeks, then sent a message to Vick telling him he'd be in town.

Gale also looked for an excuse to contact the Wilderness Group. After all, he reasoned, they were doing good work. Maybe he could help them out. And if he got intel at the same time, all the better. Besides, Vick had told him all the students had paid a small registration fee of 20 credits - it was only right that he pay for his attendance. As it turned out, they were a registered student group with an official group contact code. He doubled the amount and filled out the form for a credits transfer, attaching it to a cordial message thanking them for their hospitality. He mentioned he'd be in town in a couple of weeks, and would be happy to meet with them if they wanted to discuss ways to build their program.

* * *

That night a few miles from Capitol College, Rose and Runa sat at a bar on a girls' night out, enjoying the midweek margarita special.

"So how are classes going?" Rose asked.

"It's a mix," Runa shrugged. "Chemical engineering is scary. We've started covering some of Snow's ... innovations. No one's allowed to use that stuff anymore, but you wouldn't believe the things they concocted. What about you?"

"Well, epidemiology no longer makes me want to compulsively wash my hands. I think that's a good thing? I was worried about Health Policy but honestly the professor is pretty easy. Sooo much less stress than last semester."

They laughed, swapping stories about hated assignments and upcoming exams. Halfway through their margaritas, Rose told her friend about the message from Gale.

"What do you make of it?" Runa asked.

"It's a nice gesture. He must think we're doing something right if he's offering to help us. But I'm not doing it if it makes you uncomfortable."

Runa sipped her drink. Maybe she had been wrong to assume she'd never see him again. She still didn't think she needed to worry about Gale Hawthorne.

"No, don't be silly. It's not like he's a creepster or something. It was just weird. Every time I talked to him he dredged up memories from the war. He was so .. familiar. I mean, where was the 'hey, how's it going, what's your story?' No, he just laid out his judgments. As if I care."

Shaking her head Rose answered, "I still can't believe he gave you crap about being from the Capitol. I would never have expected that from him. I guess he has reason to be prejudiced, but you'd think he'd have gotten over it - or at least learned to hide it better. He was perfectly polite with everyone else."

"I wasn't very nice to him either. I shouldn't have let him get to me - I couldn't help it. But I held my own," She said with a small smile. "I don't know, maybe we just got off on the wrong foot."

"You did great, don't worry about it. None of us even knew he'd be there, let alone that he'd act like that. You can't let him bother you. Anyway, Carlos wants to get him involved - thinks it could help us out. I guess we'll see what the man has to say."

Runa remembered the boy who sold overpriced strawberries on her back step. He may still be cocky and arrogant, but the man they'd met wasn't that boy. And she wasn't that girl, no matter what he thought. Runa had made a deal with her past a long time ago - she left it alone, it left her alone. She hadn't expected the appearance of someone like Vick Hawthorne in her life, let alone Gale.

It had put her on edge, she admitted. She thought he'd confront her. She'd been disappointed by his artless attempts to draw her out - what had he expected to elicit with a strawberry breakfast bar? A happy reunion? A tearful confession? She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to Belle453 for her wonderful beta / help. Gale's line (****"Autumn's fire burns slowly along the woods and day by day the dead leaves fall and melt"**) is from William Allingham. Runa's response ("Time is the fire in which we [all] burn") is from Delmore Schwartz.


	4. Friday: Making Friends

**Authors Note: Thanks to everyone for reading this story, and especially to everyone who's taken the time to review, PM, follow, etc! I really appreciate your comments and encouragement. Thanks to Belle453 for the beta. :)**

* * *

The more time that passed, the more Gale doubted his instincts. How could Madge Undersee have escaped district 12 and survived the war in the Capitol without anyone knowing? It seemed impossible, and yet Gale couldn't let go of the idea. Madge Undersee, alive. His desire to get to the truth grew every day.

Soon he was back in the Capitol. It had been less than a month but it felt like a different season. The mild autumn weather and beautiful changing leaves had been replaced with leafless trees and a wintry wind.

Gale had arranged to meet with Rose after he finished his seminar on Thursday. He came prepared with some military programs that could help with funding for the wilderness group. When Rose told him about her idea to organize first aid training, he offered to help her find a useful connection at one of the Capitol hospitals. He didn't ask about Runa, but got lucky when Spinner turned up to meet Rose. Gale asked their advice on how he should spend his free day in the Capitol, remembering Spinner's suggestion to get out and about. He'd invited them to get a drink with him on Friday, and Spinner had said they'd be at the Oak Barrel tavern.

* * *

Gale took his time getting to the Oak Barrel that night. Easing up to the bar, he didn't recognize half the beers on tap, so he asked the bartender for something heavy on the hops and surveyed the rest of the room. The bar area was moderately packed with students and Capitol types. There was a small empty dance floor at the far end of the room. To his left Gale spotted Rose and Spinner at a table, along with Runa and Carlos. He'd have to thank Runa sometime for making it so easy to find her in a crowd. He smiled. He hadn't been sure she'd be here. Her back was to him, her unmistakable hair flowing over her shoulders. At first he thought she was wearing one of those one-shouldered numbers, until he realized that her tattoo extended over one shoulder, down part of her arm and onto her back.

He was still waiting for his drink when suddenly she appeared at his side, flagged down the bartender and rattled off a list of drinks before turning to Gale. "Gale Hawthorne. What a surprise," she said. Her red sequin top glittered in the dim light.

"Hi Runa. I hope you don't mind. I _was_ invited," he answered. He was sure that Spinner and Rose had warned her he might come. Since she hadn't let his presence cow her on the camping trip, he'd hoped she'd show.

Runa answered, "Yes, but I wasn't sure you'd survive so long in the Capitol."

"I must be tougher than you thought," he smirked.

Gale's drink came at the same time as Runa's four. With a wink she said, "helps when you're friends with the bartender."

"Want some help with those?" Gale offered.

She handed him one, then balanced the other three herself. "Come on," she said, leading the way to the table where her friends from district 4 welcomed him.

"So kids, how's school going?" he asked the group jokingly as he set down the drinks. Rose leaned over taking the extra beer he'd brought. It didn't take long for the students to divulge enough about their classes for Gale to figure it out. Runa's classes were in biotechnology not psychology. _Runa Bihar_, Gale thought.

Soon Spinner asked Gale about his day, sparking a spirited conversation about the best and worst spots to visit in the city. Gale wanted to learn more about Runa's background, but had to wait for natural segues to ask her anything meaningful without raising any suspicions.

Before he knew it Gale was down to the dregs of his beer. Spinner quizzed him on his beer preferences before deciding that Gale needed a full explanation of the brews on tap so he could better choose something new to try. Then someone brought up Carlos' brother Johnny, who lived back in District 4 but was coming to visit in a week. Gale asked Runa if she'd been to District 4. She explained that she had been twice in the summers, visiting during school vacations. Carlos and Johnny were teaching her to fish, she said. The talk about fishing opened the door for Gale to ask about their hunting and weapons training, though he knew what training the soldiers would have received. After some talk about snares and various other weapons, Gale asked about bow-hunting.

"We usually stick to target practice, but Runa's the best of us by far," Rose said.

Silently Gale thanked Rose for such a perfect lead-in. He turned to Runa. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you learn? Being from the Capitol."

She answered, "I wanted to learn after the 74th games, but it wasn't allowed then. Archery was popular in the Capitol after the war, when access to equipment opened up. It was completely sanitized as sport of course. I'm sure it was nothing like your experience, but I had lessons. My sister and I trained together."

"Sister?" Gale asked. Madge didn't have a sister, so if Runa had one she was either in on the deception or Runa really was what she claimed.

"Mm-hmm." She smiled at him innocently. Her expression practically dared him to question her further. _Go ahead, ask me._ If he pushed her on the sister, which the others clearly accepted without question, he'd threaten whatever trust he had built with her friends.

Based on Spinner's comments about her rough life, Gale had thought she'd have some story from the rebellion, so he asked, "So that's all? Nothing during the war?"

"The war?" she laughed. "Did you see much rebellion in the Capitol? We'd never had to fight for anything before. We didn't have leaders. Organizing was even harder than in the districts - so many truly faithful to our beloved President, so many opportunistic scumbags willing to sell any secrets they learned." It was all so seamless - all the answers a Capitol girl might give.

Gale was at the bottom of his second beer when the music was turned up and garish multi-colored lights lit up the empty dance floor. Rose pulled Spinner out toward the dance floor, calling back, " 'scuse us guys!"

Gale scoffed, "they're joking right?"

"Sadly no," Carlos answered with a frown. "Spinner didn't warn you?"

"Guess not," Gale said. Tossing back the last of his drink he asked, "Anybody else need a refill?" Neither of them did, so Gale decided to switch over to water rather than let the beer start affecting his judgment. He brought a pitcher with him back to the table to share.

Rose and Spinner returned after a few songs, grateful for the water. After downing half a glass Spinner took Runa by the hand and they left the table to dance. Though Gale would have been happy to watch from the sidelines, Rose asked him to dance, so he followed her onto the floor. "You dance much?" she asked him.

"I can hold my own," Gale said noncommittally.

He put in enough effort to prove the point, twirling Rose and hitting the predictable breaks in the music. He couldn't help steal glances toward Runa. She seemed to light up as she spun smoothly across the dance floor with Spinner; she was captivating. When the song ended, he steered Rose toward Runa and Spinner, suggesting they swap dance partners. Runa acquiesced so he took her hand in his and waited for the music to begin again.

"You know a lot of girls would leap at the chance to dance with a war hero," he said cockily.

Angling her head to one side Runa answered, "any woman worth her salt would tell you to get over yourself."

The next song was as upbeat as the last, just shy of fast. He started simply, swaying to the music. The speed of the song prevented real conversation, so Gale used the dance to his advantage. He stepped into one familiar dance pattern followed by another. Gradually he stepped up the moves, pulling from the repertoire he'd built over a dozen District 12 Harvest Festivals as he spun Runa around the tiny dance floor. She artfully followed his every move with hardly a misstep.

By the time the song came to an end, both Gale and Runa were winded. Runa turned away from him as a slow Capitol ballad began to play, but Gale refused to let go of her hand. She turned back to object and he pulled her gently toward him.

"One more?" he suggested quietly. Runa didn't resist.

This time Gale wasn't going to test her abilities or show off his own. Every doubt had been erased from his mind and he couldn't let her get away now. The ballad wasn't his style but he wanted to be able to talk freely, not under the watchful eyes and ears of her friends.

Swaying easily along to the beat, her face was turned toward his shoulder so he couldn't see her expression. He wished he could look her in the eye, but maybe this would make it easier. He couldn't miss the opportunity. He asked her, "are you going to tell me they teach District 12 folk dancing in the Capitol now too?"

If they'd been sitting at the bar he wouldn't have detected any reaction, but dancing he could feel every twitch of a muscle. He felt her tense, ever so slightly. She answered evenly, "As a matter of fact they do. Would you believe? Something about maintaining cultural diversity."

Gale didn't understand why she wouldn't accept that he knew the truth, why she wouldn't just admit it. He was at his wit's end. He lowered his head, his lips inches from her ear.

"Madge," he murmured.

She sucked in her breath and stiffened at the sound of his voice. Then she quickly recovered.

Her voice shook only a fraction as she answered, "I told you my name is Runa."

He didn't believe her. Lifting his hand from her waist he turned her chin to face him with his thumb. He searched her fake violet eyes, silently pleading with her to admit what they both knew. She met his gaze unwilling to give in. His eyes followed the arced tattoo down from her face to her arm. Then he whispered his hand along her scarred and tattooed shoulder and asked her gently, "What happened to you?"

"Why do you pretend to care?"

Gale had realized that Madge had accomplished what he never could - complete anonymity. Now it occurred to him how alone she must have been. "Why do you think I don't?" he asked her.

She shook his hand off her shoulder. "Unlike you I'm not a war hero. I get to choose who hears my pain," she said obstinately.

_Then choose me_, he wanted to tell her. If he wasn't already convinced that Runa was actually Madge, he'd have considered her terribly naïve. It was true that half of Panem thought they knew his story. And Gale hated it. But half of Panem - minus a few close family and friends - was wrong. Maybe he'd become so invested in the idea of Madge because he imagined she might actually understand his pain.

Runa could dare him to dig into her past. This was his counter move. As long as she claimed to be Runa she couldn't claim to really know him. "If you think that all Panem knows my pain you're not who I thought you were."

Without another word she turned her face back toward his shoulder, leaning her head against his chest. They were at an impasse. Somehow, Gale thought it would feel worse than this.

They finished the dance without speaking another word, but moving easily in each other's arms. When the music ended, his hand dropped from hers and they separated.

As they met the others back at the table, Rose looked cautiously at Runa, who looked like her normal self if not exactly cheerful. Still Rose asked, "Hey, everything okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Runa asked in reply. "Gale was just showing me some new dance moves. He's very good, if you don't mind that he's hopeless when it comes to the latest Capitol dance styles." She winked at him.

"A couple of times I thought she'd catch the building on fire," Gale smiled. He was still reeling inside, and he marveled at her quick recovery. The only difference he noticed was that some of her prickly defensiveness had melted away.

Gale didn't dance much more that night. He mostly talked with Carlos. He told the others about his plans to go hiking with Vick in the morning. He stayed until they called it quits, and asked if anyone needed a ride home. Runa accepted. They weren't done with each other, not yet. They climbed into his sedan and he started the engine to warm up the car. "Where to?" he asked.

"You're really just going to take me home?" She sounded amused.

"If that's what you want," he agreed. She hit a few buttons on her communicuff and read out the first few turns.

"Nice car," she said.

"It's a rental."

Gale drove. Once in a while Runa told him where to turn. She lived far too close, and before he could decide on anything to say Runa gave him the last couple of turns. They hadn't spoken and he was running out of time.

"Madge," he sighed.

"You're obsessed. Who was she, some childhood crush?"

Now she was deliberately trying to provoke him. He growled, "Cut the act. No Capitolite could dance like you did."

"No dead girl could either," she answered evenly. "I'm in the yellow building on the next block."

As he pulled up to her curb Runa told him, "We've got archery practice tomorrow afternoon if you want to join us." She climbed out, then turned and leaned her head back into the car. Her eyes narrowed and she demanded, "But if you even suggest -"

She didn't want him telling her friends about her past. Gale cut her off forcefully. "I won't." He would keep her secret, for now at least.

Gale watched her walk away. So that was it, as close as she would come to an admission. It really was her. He thought he had known, but hearing those words changed things. It wasn't an admission ... but it was enough. He wasn't crazy after all. And instead of feeling justified or triumphant, Gale found all he wanted was to protect her.

* * *

Vick jogged up the hill ahead of Gale, still full of energy after three hours in the woods. "I don't know Gale. You think Runa is some dead girl because you danced with her?"

Gale already regretted telling him. "Vick come on, it wasn't just any dance. It was from district 12. And she's not dead. She's .. presumed dead."

"And what did she say?"

"I told you, I said that nobody from the Capitol could dance like that, and she said that no dead girl could either."

"So she never said she was from 12."

"Not in so many words." Gale crested the hill. He could see the break in the trees up ahead, the edge of the forest where his rental car was parked. To his right a squirrel rustled through the dead leaves on the forest floor.

Vick turned, watching his brother. "And you're still going to call her Runa?"

"Vick ..."

"I'm just saying."

"Her friends don't know and I promised -"

"Alright. Well, thanks for sharing. At least your love life is way more interesting than mine right now." Vick kicked at a loose pebble back behind them, watching it bounce along the dirt trail.

Gale wondered again what he had expected from his little brother. "Vick I told you it's not like that -"

"Right. Because we always spend hours talking about women we're not dating."

"We've talked about Andrea enough," Gale retorted.

Vick laughed. "Because I LIKE Andrea. I WANT to date her. You're just proving my point."

"Just forget it, okay?"

"Hey, don't worry. Once we get to the archery range, my lips are sealed."

They'd reached the car. Gale unlocked the door and pulled out their extra water bottles, tossing one to Vick.

"Can we stop for lunch on our way back?" Vick asked, "I'm starving."

"Sure." Gale agreed, even though he'd made sure Vick had a huge breakfast before they hit the trail. "You mind calling Ma on the ride back? I promised her we would while we were together."

Complaining about the noise from the gravel road, Vick clicked into a headset to call home while Gale drove. Vick told his Ma about their hike and answered all her questions about school. Gale tried to grab the phone away when Vick started telling her that Gale liked a girl from the College, but Vick stuck out his tongue and held the phone out of reach. There was nothing he could do. When Gale glared a warning at him and mouthed _I am going to kill you for this_, Vick just grinned back at his eldest brother evilly.

Gale found a fast food place for lunch and sent Vick in to order take-out so he could talk to Ma alone. As soon as he said hello Hazelle demanded, "Gale what is Vick talking about?"

Gale had thought about telling her, but this wasn't how he'd intended to do it. After Vick's reaction he was rethinking telling her at all. "Ma, he's just messing with me."

"So there's no girl I should know about?" Her voice sounded skeptical.

"Not like that," he faltered.

"Like what then?"

"Ma - I know this is going to sound crazy, but .." he trailed off.

"But what?" she asked.

Gale took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. "It's Madge Undersee. She's alive."

There was silence at the other end of the line. Gale was about to ask if she'd heard him when Hazelle asked, "The mayor's daughter? How is that possible?"

"I don't know, she won't tell me."

"Gale ... " There was his Ma's warning tone of voice, telling him he'd better come clean about whatever was going on.

Now that he'd started, it spilled out of him. He told her about recognizing Runa on the camping trip. "She's a student at the College. I'm going to try to convince her to come clean. To admit who she really is."

"To you or to the authorities?"

"Both? Ma I deal with ethics all the time. I can't let her just ... live a lie."

"Could she get into trouble for this?"

"Maybe, but she should still do it. She claims to be this girl from the Capitol, Runa Bihar."

"Bihar?" Hazelle repeated.

"Yeah, why? Does it mean something to you?"

Vehemently Hazelle said, "Gale, you can't do anything to betray this woman's trust. Promise me."

Gale was taken aback by her change in tone. "I don't plan to. But ... why?"

There was a long pause before Hazelle answered her son. "Gale, do you remember the Peacekeeper who stopped Thread? When you were caught with that turkey?"

"Of course I remember Darius. What does he have to do with this?"

"Not Darius, Gale. Darius didn't stop the whipping. You just remember him because you knew him, and ... what happened to him. It was Purnia who finally stopped Thread."

"Okay, what about her?" Gale asked impatiently.

"Maybe I shouldn't say anything," Hazelle hedged.

Gale told her, "Ma, this whole thing has been driving me nuts. If you know something ... anything. Please tell me."

Hazelle sighed. "Gale ... Purnia's last name was Bihar."


	5. Saturday: Archery Practice

**Author's Note: Thanks everyone for reading! Thanks especially for Belle453 for her beta and to all the guest reviewers since I never get to thank you individually. :)**

* * *

The archery range was set up on a multi-purpose practice field on campus. Carlos was already practicing, but he set his equipment down when he saw Gale and Vick approach.

"Where is everyone?" Gale asked.

Carlos explained, "Spinner had something. Rose and Runa are coming with extra equipment. You two'll both have to fill out our waiver forms to use it - College policy."

Gale noticed the bow Carlos had been using. "That isn't the bow I used is it? What's the draw weight?"

"No, right. The one you used is 60 pound. This one's at 35, goes up to 45. It's just for practice; it helps with precision. Did you bring your own this time? Can I see?"

Gale shrugged his case off his shoulder and pulled out his personalized bow. Beetee had designed it exactly to Gale's personal specifications.

Carlos whistled. "Now that's impressive." Gale handed it over and walked through its features so Carlos could take a closer look. Then Carlos asked Gale to take a few shots. After watching Gale send several arrows into the targets he commented, "You use a high anchor point."

"I learned from hunting," Gale reminded him.

Gale watched as Carlos showed Vick a beginner stance and arm positioning. Then he gave Vick the same challenge used in the military - holding the bow in position for a solid minute. It didn't sound like much but extending your arm was more work than most people realized, and holding the bow added enough weight to wear Vick down quickly. Carlos and Gale grinned at Vick's obvious effort trying to keep the bow in position. He gave up after 30 seconds.

Gale consoled him, "that's actually pretty good, Vick. Don't worry, it comes with time."

Rose and Runa turned up a little later with the group's equipment. Gale dropped his bow to help them unload, smiling when he caught Runa's eye as they both reached for the same case. Her eyebrows lifted and the corner of her mouth twitched up before she grabbed the case and was gone. When they'd finished unloading Gale watched Rose and Runa jog back and forth across the field to warm up and loosen muscles as Carlos helped Vick find a good sized bow to practice with.

Waivers signed, Gale set up a new target nearby and walked Vick through some basics to practice while the others practiced steadily on their targets from a series of different distances. He was glad he'd made Vick bring a jacket. Even with the sun overhead there was a chill in the air and archery wasn't the same kind of blood-pumping workout as their earlier hike.

When Vick seemed ready to practice on his own, Gale took a break to watch the others shoot, and to practice a little himself. He didn't mind the chance to show off how good he could be with his own bow. He moved to the far end of the group, to the left of Runa, so he was facing her back when they were both shooting. She was focused on her own routine: carefully setting up each shot, working through a set of arrows, pausing to stretch and relax her taut muscles.

Gale let his muscle memory take over as he practiced along with the others until someone ran out of practice arrows and called for a break. Then he followed them down to the targets to collect his arrows. Walking back across the manicured lawn alongside Runa, he said as casually as he could, "You shoot like her."

"Like who?" Runa asked. She didn't look over.

Gale watched for her reaction answering, "Like Katniss. You use the same grip. I used to shoot that way."

Runa just answered, "Really? That's funny. Well, your whole squad was pretty famous by the end of the war. My instructor must have seen it in the broadcasts." She spared him a glance as she looked at nothing in particular across the green space.

"Right. I'm sure that's it," Gale answered. He considered it a victory, starting a conversation without things getting contentious. He'd even brought up a connection to her past. She hadn't reacted - as usual - but at least she didn't turn defensive. It bothered him, how she hadn't reacted to Katniss' name. Katniss had been her best friend as far as he could tell. _It shouldn't bother me_, he thought. _Why am I surprised?_

He'd been able to watch her as he practiced, across a vast distance of maybe ten feet. He'd been so close to her last night on the dance floor he had felt the way she moved so completely he imagined he could trace the very lines of her nerves through her skin. By comparison, watching her as an archer practicing at his side she felt aloof and too far removed. He wished he could feel with that same intimacy how she moved with the bow in her hand.

Aloud Gale said, "You shoot really smoothly. Would you mind showing me your draw?"

Runa agreed and confidently walked through her process from nocking the arrow to her release. Gale asked her to explain her anchor point, the position of her right hand when the bow was drawn.

"Like this?" he asked. Without a bow he acted out a draw and positioned his hand on his face. It wasn't quite how she had described, but it was close.

She looked over his positioning critically, then made a few small adjustments to his hand placement. Her changes were precise and efficient like a clinician would make, which disappointed him a little. "More like that," she said.

She explained that she had had trouble with her release until she started using a second anchor point for after the release, and demonstrated the second position. He copied it, again asking her to correct him. This time her hand lingered on his as she made the adjustment. Her fingertips were cold on his skin.

"Your hands are freezing. You need gloves," he told her. He was tempted to wrap his hands over hers and rub some warmth into them, but he didn't. He didn't think she would respond well to that, or to the other, better ways he could think of to warm her up. She pulled her hand back.

"Sorry," she said.

He didn't want to go back to practicing alone so he stayed with her and tried shooting a few arrows based on her positions. It didn't work well - his muscles were too trained to his own positioning. But it got a laugh out of her. He liked hearing her laugh. Even more he liked that he had made her laugh and smile so easily.

At the end of their practice Gale sent Vick across the field to help Carlos take down the targets. He kept close to Runa as they cleaned up the equipment and when Rose wasn't close enough to hear he commented to her, "I can't make you tell me what happened to you - but I wish you would."

"Why do you care so much?" she asked.

He marveled at her stubbornness. "Why do I care?" He repeated incredulously, keeping his voice low. "We thought you were dead. Someone from home - someone I know - resurrects from their grave and I shouldn't care? Look - Madge, Runa, whatever. I just want to help."

"I don't need your help."

After a pause he set down his arrows and said ruefully, "You know I should have reported you?"

"Then why didn't you?" she asked.

Gale hesitated a moment as she set down her arrows. He was standing a mere couple of feet from her. "I can't." As he said it his heartbeat quickened and he felt a familiar rush of adrenaline. It was the same rush he used to feel crossing the fence. It was a rush few women had ever elicited in him since the war, the daring of wanting to cross that line and not knowing how she would react or what might happen next.

"That's not an answer!" she groused.

He quietly checked on the others - Carlos and Vick were still taking down the targets at the far end of the field. Rose was walking away, carrying things to the truck. He took a slow step toward her, lowered his voice to just above a whisper, and told her "I think you know why."

He raised a hand to her brow, pushing her hair back from her tattoo and she tilted her face up to meet his eyes. He took his time, trying to memorize every feature of this new Madge. He wanted to freeze this moment of unknowing. Slowly weighing each word he told her, "I think it's why you showed up at the bar last night. I hope it's why you invited me here."

He'd given her plenty of time to escape, but Runa didn't move a muscle. Her pink lips were slightly parted in surprise and he wasn't sure if she was still breathing. He murmured, "I know it's why I came." Then seeing her eyes flicker down to his mouth, he leaned down to lightly kiss her.

She met him on tip-toe, her lips yielding to the gentle pressure of his mouth. He felt her hand on his hip as she steadied herself against him. He lingered there only a moment before he felt her stiffen. She broke the kiss, and Gale opened his eyes to her sweet violet eyes looking up at him from an uncertain face. He smiled, and she looked away, but he saw the smile that creased her cheeks. Seeing it, he wanted to grab her in his arms and kiss her again. But she had already retreated to a safer distance and he had already chanced enough by kissing her here.

He glanced around for the others. Nobody was standing and staring at them, or even looking their way. Hardly a minute had passed. "Let me take you to dinner?" he asked.

She turned toward him and paused, a small twinkle in her eye. "Take who to dinner?"

He knew the right answer. Every time he had called her Madge, she had corrected him. "Runa. Let me take you to dinner Runa."

"I guess I can let you do that."

* * *

As it turned out, Vick had seen Gale and Runa talking after practice, but not the kiss itself. Still, it was enough that once they were back in the car Vick began questioning Gale about it. Gale still wanted to keep what happened to himself and deflected his brother's questions with his own about the archery practice. Gale dropped his brother off at the dorms and said goodbye. He hoped he'd have reason to visit again soon.

He picked Runa up at her apartment. Between her simple black sweater and jeans, and the braid that pulled her hair from her face, the Capitol decorations didn't seem as imposing as when they'd first met. He'd asked her to pick the place, and she directed him to a restaurant a couple miles from campus.

Dinner was nice. They stuck to small talk. Gale told her what District 2 was like, and Runa talked about College and the wilderness group. They talked about archery and Runa's friends. Runa told him how she and Spinner had once gotten themselves so thoroughly lost in the woods outside the Capitol that they'd had to set up an impromptu camp for the night. She said they'd gotten lucky the next day and stumbled upon an old road that led them back to civilization where they learned that Rose had organized a search party to come find them.

He tried not to think about her past, which only made him think about it more. It was like finding the centerpiece of the puzzle without being able to see the picture. Purnia Bihar, District 12 Peacekeeper. Somehow she had to be the key to Madge's escape to the Capitol, to her surviving the war.

Gale just had no idea how.

The waiter brought back the dessert menu for them. After a minute he returned and asked them, "Any decisions?"

Gale looked questioningly at Runa who answered, "a brownie sundae please." Gale handed his own menu back. Without taking his eyes off of Runa he said, "I'll have the strawberry shortcake."

When the waiter left, Gale joked, "I might even let you try some."

Runa didn't say anything so Gale asked, "So what does Rose think?"

"Of what?"

"Of ... this. Me. I'm sure you've talked to her."

"I think she'd love it if you hadn't been such a jerk on the camping trip."

"They seem like good people. You shouldn't lie to them."

She sighed. "I'm not lying. This is who I am."

"But you're not telling them the whole story."

"I wish you'd just leave it alone. My past is none of your business."

Though he knew it was risky Gale answered truthfully, "I can't. I want to know what happened to you. I want your friends to know the truth."

Gale tried to hold himself together. After a pause he impulsively asked, "How's your sister doing? What did you say her name was?" He tried to play it cool.

"I don't think I ever did," Runa answered, calm and collected.

Gale marveled at how she held herself together. He had to take a chance and ask. Purnia was her link back to District 12. They shared a last name. How was she so calm?

He forced himself not to raise his voice. "Let me guess. Is it ... Purnia?"

Runa didn't lose a beat. "So you're stalking me now? How flattering."

She could never just answer his question simply, could she?

Laughing Gale said, "Not stalking, I swear. Just had a very interesting conversation with my Ma today. Learned a few things."

"Apparently you missed how to mind your own business," she retorted.

Gale didn't want to make her angry. He'd been stupid to bring it up - he should have been more patient. He wanted her to stop hiding but he'd only just met her. He had to give her more time. "You're right, it's your life. And you should know whatever happens, I swear I will never use this information against either of you. Even if I never see you again, I won't betray you and I won't betray her. I couldn't do that, not to someone I owe my life to. I just … want to help."

He hoped that would placate her. He knew that accusing Runa now would implicate Purnia - and Purnia had saved him. If Runa remembered the old Gale, she would know that meant something to him - that owing Purnia would have kept her safe even if he wanted to turn them in. Which he didn't. He wanted it to be her decision to come clean about her past.

Runa's face went sheet-white. "You owe your life ... What did she tell you ...?"

Gale felt embarrassed. He'd assumed she would know what he meant, as if she would remember the day of his whipping as vividly as he did. "Ma just reminded me what happened the day I was whipped after I took a turkey to sell Cray and he'd been replaced by Thread. It's not like it was a secret. But I still want to know how you and Purnia came to be sisters. You don't have to tell me now. I hope that eventually you can trust me enough to tell me. To let me help."

Runa looked down at the table, leaning back stiffly. "The day you were whipped. And now you want to help me. I … I see." She picked up her purse and slid out of her chair. "Thanks for all your great advice, but I've had enough. I'm out of here."

Gale didn't understand. A minute before she'd been unflappable. It took him a full two seconds to realize that she was really leaving. Dessert hadn't even come yet.

He couldn't just let her walk away. Gale pulled his credit card from his wallet. The waiter was across the room; there wasn't enough time. He left the card on the table and hurried after Runa. At the front door he grabbed the host and told him, "I left my card. I'll be back," before running out the door. From the parking lot he looked out into the darkness and spotted Runa jogging across the street. It took him only a second to decide to chase after her on foot.

The name _Madge_ was almost out of his mouth before he stopped himself. He didn't want to piss her off worse than he already had. "Runa Wait! Where are you going?"

She slowed to a walk on the far side of the street, but she didn't stop. She didn't turn around. Gale ran until he caught up with her.

"What? What did I do?" He tried to catch her hand in his but she jerked it away. He chased after her. He tried again. "Are you really going to let our dessert go to waste?" She didn't even look at him. "Come on. This is ridiculous. At least let me give you a ride home."

"I'm fine. I don't need a ride. I don't need your help, Gale. You don't owe me anything."

"Madge - Runa - dammit..." He wasn't going to let her walk home alone. He matched her pace for two miles to make sure she made it home safely. She didn't say another word, but he couldn't stand the silence. Eventually he started talking, half hoping to wear her down and half to himself.

"Okay, don't talk. Whatever I did, whatever I said, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. Man, usually the only person who gets this mad at me is my sister Posy. She's fifteen now, you know. Ma is actually letting her date, can you believe it? I can't. My baby sister, dating? Out with teenage boys? It almost makes me want to move home again. I think Posy'd kill me though. Ma thinks I'm being ridiculous. You think she'd be on my side, she raised three sons ..." Gale rambled on about his family, almost like a kidnap victim trying to connect to their captor. She didn't respond but he had to hope that something would penetrate the steel wall she'd thrown between them. He kept talking the whole way to Runa's apartment building.

At her front door, Gale watched as Runa fumbled for her keys. When she raised her head to unlock the door, the porch light glistened off her wet cheek. He reached out to touch her cheek, to comfort her, but she jerked away. She turned to face him and said, "Just ... leave me alone. And stay away from my family."

Bewildered, wondering how things had gone so terribly wrong, Gale watched her disappear into the building.


	6. Sunday: Heartache

**Thanks everyone for reading and for your support. Thanks a ton to Belle453 for her beta and for always spotting what I've missed.**

* * *

After yesterday's archery practice, Gale had imagined he'd have somewhere to be today. She'd kissed him back, she'd agreed to a date. By now he should be bringing her coffee and croissants, not packing up his things and leaving his hotel without a plan or a clue what he would do. He tried calling her, but she didn't answer. He couldn't think of anything to say that he hadn't already said. Would another apology really make a difference when he still had no idea what he'd done wrong? He hung up without leaving a message.

With nowhere to be until his train that evening, he drove aimlessly down Capitol streets until he found himself back at the College, driving past the field where they'd practiced archery. He parked in the empty lot next to the field and perched on the hood of the car, looking out across the grass.

Gale wished he had a clue what he'd said wrong and why she'd reacted as she did. Who could he turn to? Gale couldn't go to Runa's – she'd told him to stay away. He didn't really feel like being around Vick, who would surely weasel the whole embarrassing story out of him. He thought about calling Ma back, but he wasn't sure he wanted to tell her about the disastrous date either. Besides which Gale didn't see what insight she could have into Madge. She didn't even know her back in 12. He could try Runa's friends, but he'd be treading on pretty thin ice. Their loyalties would be to her, even though they didn't even know who she really was. The last and riskiest option was to contact Purnia. Purnia was the only person he could think of that knew her as both Madge and Runa – that might be able to help him. But Runa had said to leave her family alone. Purnia was the only living 'family' he knew about.

"Hello? Anyone awake in there?" a voice asked from beside him, startling Gale from his thoughts. Looking towards the voice he found Spinner standing a few feet from him, carrying a large equipment bag over one shoulder.

"Sorry," Gale said shaking his head once. He rubbed one hand across his brow, trying to clear his mind.

Looking over Gale's face Spinner asked, "Rough morning huh?"

"You could say that," Gale answered, deflated.

Spinner dropped his bag to the ground and hoisted himself onto the hood of the car next to Gale. "This wouldn't have anything to do with why I was booted from Rose's apartment this morning would it?" Gale didn't answer, but he gathered that Runa had claimed Rose for her own commiseration. _Good_, he thought, glad she at least had a friend with her. He wondered what she would tell her friend, since from what Gale could tell Runa hadn't told anyone about her past.

Spinner continued, "I don't know what's going on between you two, but if you're getting some kind of kick out of toying with her –"

Irritably Gale swiveled his head to face Spinner and cut him off, "would I be here if I was toying with her?"

Spinner tilted his head to the side, acknowledging Gale's point. Looking away from Gale and out across the field Spinner let the silence hang between them. When Gale didn't offer anything else he asked, "What are you doing here? Returning to the scene of the crime?"

Gale shook his head slowly, unsure what had brought him back here. "More like trying to figure out what law I broke. One minute I thought everything was fine, the next thing I know I'm chasing her down College Drive."

Spinner looked over at Gale with a disbelieving look. "That bad?" Gale lifted one hand uncertainly, then dropped it back down. They sat silently for a minute, staring out at the grassy field.

Then Spinner said, "I don't know. You seem like a good guy, but you sure know how to piss her off. Have you really tried to get to know her? Or are you still assuming you know who she is because she's a Capitolite?"

_Not because she's a Capitolite_, Gale thought. _Because I do know who she is. She's Madge_. He couldn't say that, had to lie. And unless he gave up on her, he'd have to get used to it. He groaned. "I don't know," he said. "I wish she'd just tell me what I did wrong."

Spinner laughed. "Sorry man. All I know is that you're the latest evidence of all men being dirty rotten scumbags. I'd like to help you out but, really? No way I'm getting in the middle of this. So – want to practice? Take your mind off it?"

Gale assumed the equipment bag had Spinner's archery gear. He appreciated the offer considering the situation - at least Spinner was being friendly still. He sighed. "Not really in the mood. Thanks though," he answered.

"Suit yourself," Spinner said, swinging his equipment bag in the air and heading across the field. Gale watched him go, then reluctantly slid back into his car. Runa was with Rose. It was best, he thought, to just leave her be until he could come up with an actual plan. Until then, there was nothing for him in the Capitol. He turned the car toward the train station and changed his ticket to the next train back to District 2.

* * *

Monday Gale called a Capitol flower shop to order flowers for her. He didn't know what kind she would like, so he settled on a small bouquet of daisies – something like what he could have picked in the meadow back home. He included a short note. _Runa -_ _Thinking of you. GH. _

Tuesday came and went. He tried to ignore the ache in his chest when he remembered holding her on the dance floor, how right she'd felt in his arms. He could close his eyes and almost feel her there, her cheek against his chest, her hair tickling his face as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. Wednesday he gave into the temptation and called Spinner, but no one answered. He left as casual a message as he could muster, hoping _everyone_ was alright. No reply.

Thursday Gale knew he couldn't just sit around forever. He couldn't let her just slip away from him so easily; she had to give him another chance. He knew it might make her even angrier, but it was time for him to disregard the rules. He looked up the contact code he needed. _If she wants to tell me off_, he thought, _at least she'd have to talk to me_. He took a breath and made the call.

A sharp nasal voice answered.

"Purnia?" he asked. "It's Gale Hawthorne."

She answered, "You tracked me down. Took you long enough. It was only a matter of time after I heard about your camping trip." Gale told her he wasn't interested in turning them in, but she seemed to already know that. She brushed off his assurances without pause. She was far more interested in why he hadn't called her until now.

Gale explained, "Your sister said to stay away from you." Neither of them had used Madge's name – or Runa's. Gale was uncertain what Purnia would expect from him, uncertain what to call her himself.

Purnia chuckled. "She was pretty mad wasn't she?" Her voice reflected her amusement.

"Mad doesn't cover it," Gale muttered, not appreciating Purnia's ridicule.

"But I didn't think you thought much of rules. I guess you've learned to follow orders now, military man that you are," Purnia mocked him.

"Some rules are worth following, some aren't," Gale said feeling defensive. He didn't call her so she could just make fun of him. He gritted his teeth.

"I guess this one failed the test then, since you lasted – what – five days? So Gale Hawthorne, here you are looking for help again. Are you still the same boy that crossed the fence? Even if you are the same, she's not, or haven't you noticed yet. The war changed things. She's been Runa for ten years. It's who she is now."

"Just ... Is she okay?" he asked.

"Okay? She's strong. She'll be fine," Purnia answered dismissively. It reminded Gale of Runa's constant composure.

Frustrated Gale demanded, "Is this all a game to you two? Is that why she's always so calm?"

"She's not playing you. She learned to be a Capitolite, it takes complete self-control. Frankly I'm delighted she can hold up so well under your scrutiny. I admit she may be feeling betrayed right now, but you don't need to worry about her, is what I mean. She'll get over it. Is that why you called? To see if she'll survive one ill-advised dinner?"

Get over it? Purnia was implying that this was the end of things, that Runa would move on and forget him. Gale didn't want her to get over it. "No. It's not," Gale growled. "I need to know what I did wrong. Why does she feel betrayed? How do I fix it? At least tell me how I get her to talk to me."

For a moment Purnia was silent. "So you want another chance with her?"

Gale sighed. "Yes."

"Why?"

Even though he couldn't see her, Gale felt her protective scrutiny through the phone. He was glad she couldn't see his face flush. "Are you really asking me about my intentions with her?"

He waited for a response but Purnia was silent.

"Fine," he said. The words spilled out of him. "I like her. She's beautiful, she's smart, she's strong. I can't get her out of my head." He thought of how she'd felt in his arms, about the kiss that was over before it even began. He told Purnia, "I want to be with her. I want her to give me a chance. I don't like her hiding under some fake identity. I think she should admit who she really is. But I know that's her choice to make, not mine."

Then Purnia asked, "Why aren't you going to report us?"

"I thought you didn't care about that," Gale answered crossly.

"Just tell me why." Purnia said, equally impatient.

Gale rolled his eyes, but he had to answer her questions if he wanted any help. "First off, I wouldn't because it's not my decision, it's yours. Second, even if I wanted to report you, you stopped Thread from whipping me to death. I owe you."

"In that case you need to know three things," Purnia told him, turning serious.

"What?" he asked, shocked at her sudden change of attitude.

"One. What you did wrong. You made her think you were there for a debt, not for her."

Gale was confused. "What? How did she get _that _idea?

"Don't interrupt darling. It doesn't matter why she thinks it, just that she does. Two. Stop saying you're there to help her. She doesn't need your help and doesn't want your pity. You of all people should understand that. And Three. She'll be at my apartment for dinner a week from tomorrow. I'm sure you can find the address."

Gale waited. "Well?" Purnia asked.

"I'll be there," he said quickly, thinking through the meetings and plans he'd have to change. Then recklessly he asked, "Purnia - can you tell me what happened? To you both?"

"I could. But are you sure you want me to?" Gale thought about it. He wanted to know what happened, but more than that he wanted Runa to tell him. He shouldn't hear it from Purnia, but he'd thought through what could have happened and his curiosity wouldn't leave him alone.

"No, not really," he answered. "But - will you at least tell me how many more of you there are?"

"What are you talking about?" Purnia asked.

"Well it wasn't just you and Madge was it? You didn't walk to the Capitol. So what was it - the Capitol had their own rescue plan? They tipped off some Peacekeepers, came back after the bombing? Whatever it was, how many? How have you kept it secret so long?"

Purnia was silent a moment, then Gale heard a hearty laugh.

"What?" he asked.

Purnia, her voice rich with derision, said, "Just be glad you didn't say that to her. She would never forgive it."

"I'm not saying you supported Snow ..." Gale tried to explain.

"You're just saying that Snow planned to rescue the Mayor and his family. It's ... not that simple. But you can stop concocting conspiracy theories about some group of underground District 12 survivors. You've found us. See you next week. Eight o'clock should be about right." Then the line went dead in Gale's hand.

That night Gale booked a room in the Capitol for the next weekend. Purnia lived across town from the College, but Gale reserved a room at his usual hotel near campus. He'd have to cancel a few weekend plans and reschedule a meeting but he didn't care.

Over the next week, Gale planned and re-planned what he would say to Runa when he saw her. He still couldn't believe she thought he'd asked her out to settle some debt, but he had mentioned owing Purnia his life. As if a date could repay that. It made no sense, but he had no theories of his own so he had to trust Purnia, at least for now. What other choice was there?

* * *

_Why did life have to get so complicated?_ Runa wondered. _And why am I still thinking about Gale Hawthorne?_

Runa sat on her front stoop, waiting for Purnia. It was Friday, and Purnia had offered to come get her and give her a break from campus life. She hoped it would help her clear her mind. They were like sisters, and Runa figured she could use some time back 'home' at Purnia's apartment. Back when she had started school at Capitol College they'd even talked about both moving across town, but Purnia had thought it would be easier for her to integrate on campus without her 'older sister' around all the time. And it wasn't far, so Runa still visited regularly.

She was happy as Runa - she enjoyed her classes, and she dearly loved her friends from the wilderness group. She dated occasionally, usually some guy from one of her classes or a friend of an acquaintance. Most things fizzled early, but some of them had lasted awhile. She'd had her heart broken and she'd learned how to move on. She'd never had any desire to tell anyone about her past. Then stupid Gale Hawthorne had to come along and stir up trouble.

Purnia's dilapidated little hatchback pulled up to the curb, and Runa hopped up, trying again to forget about Gale Hawthorne as she jogged over and climbed into the passenger seat. She might have succeeded, if halfway through their trip back across town Purnia hadn't asked, "anything new from the war hero?"

Runa's heart sank at the question. _Stupid_, she thought.

"No," she told Purnia, trying not to sound disappointed. She should be glad. Gale seemed to have accepted her refusal to talk to him. She hadn't heard from him since he sent the flowers the week before that she'd thrown in the trash in a fit of anger.

He hadn't been so bad at first. Like the men who were only attracted to her strange look, she knew he was only interested because she was a puzzle. _Could it really be her? How did Madge Undersee survive the war?_ He'd made that clear, constantly exposing her little lies that everyone else took as fact. Still, once she'd gotten over her initial panic it had been fun - the attention, sparring with him again. She knew Gale had underestimated her in the old days, when she was always required to be the Mayor's perfect daughter. It had been vindicating - flirting with him, provoking him, proving herself a match to his wit. She'd deflected his constant challenges in ways she simply couldn't have in district 12. He played by the rules, kept the game a secret from her friends. As far as they knew he was little more than a stranger to her, handsome but sadly prejudiced. She smiled at the thought of her friends, how protective they'd been of her. She was cocky and overconfident inviting him to archery. She thought she knew his tricks, that he wouldn't be able to break down her walls. But she'd been playing with fire.

Gale had been a different person at archery practice. He didn't try to dig up her past or antagonize her. Even when he brought up Katniss, it wasn't accusatory. He was... almost sweet. It felt all wrong - Gale wasn't _sweet_. And the way he'd tried to copy her draw, his relaxed ease when his arrow didn't even make it to the target. He'd never been like that with her. She'd only ever seen that side of him in fleeting glimpses of him with his family at the Harvest Festival. Her body ached just thinking about it. When he'd caught her alone, exposed her to the full force of his charm, she'd _wanted to kiss him_. She turned her head further to the side, hiding her expression from Purnia as she pressed her lips together and closed her eyes, trying not to feel the heartache resurrected by the memory of that brief kiss. _It didn't mean anything_, she reminded herself bitterly.

"That's a relief," said Purnia. "He did say he wouldn't report us right?"

"Right," Runa answered half-heartedly, staring out the car window.

When he asked her to dinner, she'd started to think he actually felt something for her - until he'd blurted out the truth. He'd _learned_ some things? She felt the anger rise in her chest just thinking about it. And then he'd come right out and said it, that he'd never betray someone he owed his life to, like it was some stupid business transaction or something. She wasn't an idiot. She knew what had happened. He learned about the morphling she'd taken him after he was whipped within an inch of his life. Then it all clicked into place. Why else would Gale change so drastically? He didn't like her - he thought he owed her. She hated him for it.

The worst part was she couldn't even explain what was wrong to Rose - for the first time she felt like she was lying to her friend, and she hated that feeling. At least she had Purnia to talk to.

"You know, it's a funny thing," Purnia commented as she turned onto a side street. "How we both had some small part in keeping him alive that day. Me convincing Thread he'd already completed the appropriate punishment. You taking the morphling."

"I guess," Runa agreed. She hadn't really thought about Purnia's part in Gale's whipping. By then Katniss and Peeta were protecting him too. But Purnia was right - she'd given Thread a way to end it without losing face. Runa's stomach turned at the thought of Gale, bloody and senseless, tied to the whipping post. Another thing Gale was responsible for - they hadn't talked about the old days in years. She didn't want to talk about it anymore. Changing the subject she took a deep breath and asked, "so what do you want to do tonight?"

Purnia answered, "I put in an order for take-out from Sam's. Then, I don't know. We'll just see what we're in the mood for after dinner."

Moments later Runa spotted the sign for Sam's, glowing on the corner several blocks ahead. It was nothing fancy but it was still one of their favorite local spots, only a few blocks from the apartment. It would be good comfort food, just what she needed. She could always count on Purnia. She forced Gale from her mind, thinking instead about dinner and the night ahead.


	7. Friday: Second Chances

**Thanks everyone for reading and for all your support. Thanks to Belle453 for her beta. :)**

* * *

Purnia's home wasn't in the best neighborhood, but it wasn't in the worst neighborhood either. Her apartment was on the second floor of a tall building, all concrete and glass, a little run down. Gale checked his communicuff as he stood in front of the solid oak door. 7:45. He was a little early, but hopefully it wouldn't be a problem. He wasn't going to just stand outside her door for fifteen minutes. Everything was in place, so Gale rapped his knuckles soundly on the door three times, listening to the knocks echo through the door.

Runa opened the door and for a split second she froze before her eyes narrowed at him. "Gale?! What are you doing here?"

Purnia appeared behind her in the apartment in a chunky sweater and fitted pants. Her hair was bleached blonde and straight, her eyes stark blue. A branching blue pattern splayed out from the outer corners of her eyes - not camouflaging the scars like Runa's tattoos, but certainly distracting from them. He saw how they could pass for sisters so easily. Her skin was scarred along one side of her cheek and jaw, and across the backs of her hands. Where else, he couldn't say.

Runa was still staring him down. She hissed, "Get out of here. I told you to stay away from us."

Gale was beyond disappointed, realizing Purnia hadn't told Runa he was coming. He'd known it was a possibility, but it told him that it wasn't going to be easy winning her over. He could imagine Runa slamming the door in his face without warning. He had to trust that Purnia would help him out. Not wanting Runa to feel ambushed, he looked to Purnia before returning Runa's gaze. He lied, "I came to see Purnia. I didn't know you would be here. I'll go ... "

He turned away, continuing his ruse until Purnia declared, "You will not."

Runa turned to Purnia and Gale looked from Purnia's unreadable expression to the angry stiffness of Runa's shoulders.

Purnia continued, "It's my home. I'll decide which visitors stay. Gale, it's been a long time. We were about to have dinner. Please. Join us." Gale slipped quickly past Runa into the apartment, before she could object.

Runa looked from Gale to Purnia, stricken. "What? He's .. staying? You can't be serious."

Purnia shrugged. "Well it would be rude to kick him out after he's come all this way. I don't see what the big deal is. He's no threat to us. Now come on, let's eat."

Gale repressed his smile. _She's good_, he thought. _Sneaky_. He was going to have to watch out for her. He turned to Runa, saying, "after you."

Runa was stuck. She followed Purnia stiffly out of the room. Gale trailed after, and sat where Purnia set a new place at the square table, shifting two take-out containers out of the way. Runa sat awkwardly to his right facing Purnia who was to his left. In the space across from Gale stood a small vase with a profusion of lavender spilling out from it. The soapy sweet smell pervaded the room.

"Thank you for the flowers Gale," Purnia said with a slight smile.

Runa's eyes widened as she looked between Purnia, the flowers, and Gale.

Gale tried not to smirk, but failed. "You're welcome." He'd picked lavender for their color, as close as he could get to the fake violet in Runa's eyes. Runa set her jaw.

Gale worried they were overdoing it, but Purnia had goaded him into it. He'd been assuming she was helping him, but what if she'd only invited him here to set Runa against him for good? No - he didn't believe that. She'd gotten him here, and she'd gotten him in the door.

Still ... Runa was already on edge - Purnia didn't need to mention the flowers. For some reason Purnia wanted to push Runa further. He knew she could handle herself - she'd proven that - but Gale's instinct was still to go easy on Runa, give her time to get used to his unexpected presence. As Purnia passed dishes around the table, Gale remembered what she had told him. No debts. No help.

Each dish Gale passed to Runa she took robotically, heaping food onto her plate. Blankly accepting another tray from Gale, Runa connected the dots on her own. She looked sharply at Purnia. "You knew he was coming," she said incredulously. "_That's_ why there's so much food. You knew it. And you didn't tell me? And you!" She whirled on Gale with a withering stare. "You have no right."

"I thought she would have told you," Gale said. Keeping his voice even, he looked at Runa's violet eyes, glaring at him with barely restrained fury. "I'm here to settle our account." Purnia looked at Gale in surprise.

Runa narrowed her eyes. "Stop thinking you owe us something. You don't."

"Yes I do," he said placidly. Ignoring Runa for the moment, he quietly folded his napkin and placed it on the table and turned to Purnia, who was looking slightly panicked herself. Somberly he told her, "Purnia. It's time to clear the air. You know I can't settle my account with you and still you invite me into your home. I owe you my life, that's not the kind of debt I can repay. I will never turn you in. I will never betray you or hurt you or your family knowingly. You could tell me to walk out the door and never come back, and no matter how much I hated it I would do it. You have my complete loyalty. " His mouth twisted into a smile as he added, "In the meantime, I guess I'll just try not to piss you off until you need a kidney or something."

A look of understanding passed between them. Purnia cracked a smile. "Thank you Gale," she answered civilly, playing along with him. They both knew he wasn't here for her.

Gale turned back to Runa. She looked stiff as a board, angry eyes boring into him. Brushing off the hostility practically radiating from her, Gale said sharply, "Runa. I hate your deceptions. But my debt to Purnia protects you too, since I couldn't expose you without exposing her too. I'd like to say I owe you nothing, but I'd be wrong." Runa glared back silently.

Gale continued, "It's a small debt, so I've let you ignore me for two weeks, but I'm relentless when I have a debt to pay. You won't get rid of me until you swallow your pride and let me buy you that chocolate brownie sundae."

A guffaw erupted from Purnia. Runa nearly choked on an involuntary laugh as she tried to maintain her hostility through her confusion. "What?"

"A sundae. I owe you."

"You owe me ... a sundae?" Runa looked at Gale as if he had two heads. He couldn't blame her really. He knew it sounded crazy. That was his plan - to turn her expectation about debts owed upside down with such a small silly claim.

Runa shook her head and stared at her plate, shoving a forkful of food in her mouth. Calmly Gale explained. "You agreed to let me take you to dinner. That's a binding verbal contract. Of course, there were no witnesses, but we can ignore that formality. During said dinner, you ordered a chocolate brownie sundae. Then I went and said something stupid and ruined your evening before you could get it. So, I'm here to make it up to you and to get you your sundae. I'm not leaving until you let me."

Runa sputtered, "You don't have to –"

Gale interrupted her smoothly, "I told you. I pay my debts."

Purnia rolled her eyes and said, "You might as well get it over with and agree. Besides, what's not to like about brownies and ice cream?"

Runa looked at him suspiciously. Venom still in her voice she asked, "So that's it? If I let you get me a sundae, you'll leave me alone?"

"No promises. But I won't owe you anything. And I guarantee I won't leave you alone while I have a debt to pay."

Sighing she gave in and told him, "Fine, you owe me a sundae. And nothing else."

They finished dinner with Runa sulking over her food and Purnia asking pointed questions about Gale's life in District 2. As Gale helped clear the dishes, he caught Purnia smirking at him. "Hope you do better with dessert, Hawthorne."

* * *

It wasn't too long a drive to get back across town, but to Gale each excruciating minute stretched out into what felt like hours. Alone again with Runa. Madge. She sat with arms folded across her chest, alternating her frozen stare between the road and the view beyond the side window. Sitting next to him, she was close enough he could have reached over and caressed her thigh. If she'd allow it. He knew she wouldn't. That sort of move was out of the question based on the icy reception she'd given him so far. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel instead.

"How's the gang?" Gale asked.

"Fine," Runa answered shortly.

Gale tried again to get her talking. "Any more expeditions this semester?"

"None you're invited on."

This was going nowhere. Gale pursed his lips. "I didn't ask for an invitation. I just wanted ..." he trailed off, not sure what to say.

"What, to help?" Runa snapped. "I've heard that line before."

Gale couldn't let her give up on him. "That's not what I was going to say. I was just curious."

"You're curious about a lot of things that aren't your business."

Gale glanced over toward her, but she was facing away from him. Gale flipped on the hazard lights and pulled the car off to the side of the road.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

Gale put the car into park. He didn't look at her, keeping his eyes on the dark road in front of them. "Maybe this is easy for you, but it's not for me. You've had ten years to create this whole new life of yours, and I've had about ten minutes to adjust." He looked over at her through the dim light filtering in from the street. She looked ready to bolt out the door, but at least she was looking at him. Listening. "Every time I look at you I see Madge and I can't say that name. I see these scars and I can't ask about them. I see this incredible woman that is somehow all Capitol and all District 12 and I can't ask how she does it. And I can't really blame you since you probably only remember me as a first rate jerk. But if you can change so drastically don't you think I might have too? Can't you give me a chance?" He faced back toward the road, letting his frustration pour out. "I don't even know what I'm allowed to ask you. I try to buy into this whole Runa thing and ignore that I knew you ten years ago, and you still give me hell for asking about the wilderness group, which should be as safe a topic as anything. So you tell me, what's left? What am I allowed to say?"

Gale felt the lump forming in his throat and cut himself off before emotion took control of his voice. He couldn't look at her, for fear that none of it mattered.

After a minute, Runa spoke. "It's not. It's not easy for me. I had everything figured out before you showed up. Now, I don't know anymore."

She sounded sincere. She didn't say anything else, but Gale still felt a spark of hope. He put the car back into gear and silently pulled back onto the road.

Then Runa said quietly, "Tell me ... about Vick."

"About Vick?" Gale asked. "What about him? You met him. He hasn't been causing any trouble has he? I sort of told him about you before I really knew it was you - but he thought I was crazy, and I told him not to tell anyone anyway. It was on the camping trip and I needed to talk to someone - there was no one else. I swear, I've only mentioned it to him and my Ma, that's it. And they'll never tell anyone."

Runa answered, "No, no trouble. That's not what I meant. Just - what's it like? You and him."

"He's my little brother," said Gale. "He drives me up the wall sometimes, he can always tell if something's on my mind and won't leave me alone until he's gotten it out of me. It's ... weird I guess, he ... doesn't really remember our dad. He was too young. I used to feel more like a dad than a brother to him, not that I really knew what it was like to be a dad or anything. He was just a kid when ... umm, during the war. But now he's all grown up. In college. Making Ma proud. Learning about wilderness survival. Making me proud. I think."

"Do you visit him a lot? Go hiking like the other week?" she asked.

Gale didn't want to tell her that he hardly ever saw Vick. "Some. Not as much as I'd like, but it's easy enough to visit during the weekend. The wilderness group thing caught me by surprise. We were supposed to go camping last spring and I sort of bailed on him. I guess he got tired of waiting for me to take him."

Somehow it worked, talking about Vick to her. She'd ask him something, and he'd answer - whatever came to his mind. Finally he asked her, "Okay, you've heard all about me and Vick. What about you? What do you think of him?" He glanced quickly over to her before looking back to the road.

"I can't ..." she demurred.

"Come on," he insisted. "I've answered all your questions."

"Well ... he looks just like you. Like you did. I almost didn't believe it when I first saw him - it was at an on-campus thing, sort of an activities fair. It was like seeing a ghost." Her words reminded Gale of the first time he'd seen her across the fire, like a ghost from his past. She continued, "... no offense, but he's nothing like you. Or at least, not like I ever saw you."

Gale glanced over again. Runa was looking down at her hands. Was it the dim light that made her face seem flushed? He wanted to keep watching her, but he forced his eyes back to the road. "You mean he's not a self-centered contemptuous brute?" he asked. He could only imagine what she'd thought of him back then.

She giggled a little. "Give yourself some credit. You had to deal with a lot more than any teenager should. Vick's just ... a lot more carefree." Gale wasn't sure how he kept the car on the road. Had she just defended him?

* * *

Gale pulled his car into the lot at the restaurant where they'd eaten dinner two weeks earlier. _The scene of the crime_, he thought, remembering Spinner's words. Inside, the table they'd eaten at on their date was empty and waiting. Gale pointed it out to the hostess, who led them over. The waiter came and Runa ordered her sundae, then looked at Gale expectantly. He ordered a coffee.

"What about your shortcake?" Runa asked seriously.

"I don't need it," Gale said.

"Yes you do," she insisted.

"What? Why?"

Runa sighed impatiently. "I'm not eating alone. Besides you promised me a taste. So if you're so worried about owing me a stupid sundae, I think you owe that to me, too," she dared him.

Gale's mouth stretched into a grin. "I guess you're right," he agreed. He turned to the waiter and nodded. "And one shortcake please".

Gale bit back a smile watching Runa eat her sundae with small bites of the dense brownie and gooey ice cream and took his time with his shortcake. Piling his fork with the crumbly cake, a couple strawberries, and a fluffy lump of whipped cream, he offered Runa her taste of the shortcake. His long arms reached easily across the small table. Runa covered his hand with her smaller one to steady the fork as she ate it - two bites to his one.

"What do you think?" he asked her about the dessert.

"Mmm.." She nodded and raised a hand to cover her full mouth. "Delicious. _Almost_ as good as this sundae." Swallowing, she pushed the sundae toward him. "You should try it," she said with a nod toward the dish.

Obliging, Gale cut off a corner of brownie with his fork and tried to scoop some of the melting ice cream up with it to try. The ice cream dripped through the prongs of the fork as he raised it to his mouth. The brownie was chewy and rich. Runa laughed quietly. Eyes dancing she told him, "You know they make these things called spoons?"

Jokingly he glared at her, then smiled and shrugged, pushing her dish back in front of her.

When the shortcake was gone but for one last strawberry and Runa had polished off every last crumb of her brownie, Gale sighed loudly. "I know what I said before, but ... I don't know, Runa."

"What?"

He stabbed the last strawberry with his fork and spun it in front of him. "I might have been wrong. I might still owe you."

Her eyes narrowed at him. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, all those Saturdays we sold you strawberries?" Gale hemmed and hawed, feigning embarrassment. "You sort of overpaid. Ethically it's a bit of a gray area. I didn't force you to overpay, but I still feel I owe you something."

"You said after this sundae we would be even," she said.

Gale nodded. Sheepishly he answered, "Well, technically you - Runa - and I are even. I guess it's Madge I still owe the strawberries to. If you ever see her, you can let her know for me."

Runa gave him a doubtful look. "If I see her," she said ironically.

After Gale had paid the check, they left the restaurant. It was a cold night, and Runa huddled, arms crossed in front of her to keep warm. Gale turned up the car's heat, allowing air warmed by the engine to blast in as he steered back toward Runa's campus apartment. He was tempted to extend the drive with a detour, but he didn't want to push his luck. The trip was far shorter by car; they were at her place in minutes. Usually Gale might hope for that lingering silence when he pulled up to her curb, but he still didn't trust that Runa wouldn't just bolt the minute he stopped the car. Gale had already decided he wasn't going to watch her walk away from him tonight. He was quick to hop out of the car. She even waited with an indulgent smile and let him open the car door for her. Walking to the front door, he stretched his fingers and brushed them against the back of her cold hand. Curling his hand around hers, he felt the edge of a callus from archery on her hand and stroked his thumb across it lightly. It still seemed crazy to him - the girl he had known as Madge Undersee, archer and survivalist.

At the door she turned to face him, or more accurately his chest, since she didn't turn her chin up toward him or invite a kiss. She moved her hand in his and he let go, freeing her. "Thank you," she murmured. "I ... had fun tonight."

She crossed her arms in front of her - maybe defensively, or maybe she was just cold. He lifted his hands to her shoulders and rubbed them down and up over her upper arms a couple times, hoping to transfer some of his heat to her, wanting the connection between them. "Me too," he said. He leaned down and kissed her cheek, right at the anchor point she used for archery. With his lips still next to her cheek he told her quietly, "I don't want there to be any confusion here. Tomorrow I'm going to call you. And I'm not calling because of some debt, and I'm not calling to dig up your secrets. I'm just calling for you." Then he released her arms and backed away. "Good night Runa," he said.

"Goodnight," she answered. He turned and walked back to the street. He paused as he opened his car door, seeing her still standing where he'd left her. Then she waved and disappeared into the building.


	8. Saturday: Study Break

**A/N: Thanks for reading and especially to the reviewers - I love hearing your reactions. :) Thanks to Belle453 for her beta & suggestions! **

* * *

Saturday morning. Gale stretched lazily in the hotel bed. Still accustomed to waking up with the dawn, he woke early with muddled thoughts of Runa and of Madge as he once knew her. Gale rolled over, blocking out the morning light. Today he would enjoy the rare luxury of sleeping in. He'd decided he needed to wait at least 12 hours since he'd seen Runa to call her. Having nowhere to be, he wasted away half the morning in the warm cocoon of blankets, until his bladder became insistent and pulled him out of bed.

He was still caught up in the details of the night before. He knew that logically it didn't make sense, the whole "I owe you a sundae" bit. If she'd really been pissed because she thought he was paying some debt, it was why she'd left before the dessert. He'd be happy to just be able to forget about that confounding little detail. He hoped that Runa wouldn't think it through that far, or if she did, that she'd take him at face value, that he didn't owe her anything. Which was true, as far as he knew. He wasn't going to concern himself with it - that was exactly what she expected and why she'd run out on him before.

He'd thought that his "debt" of the sundae would win her over more than it did. Pulling over to the side of the road had been a spur of the moment response to her obstinance. He was grateful it had worked, but still surprised that when she'd finally begun talking to him, she'd asked about Vick of all things. He couldn't decide if that was good or bad.

He had less than 48 hours before he had to be back in District 2. This time when he called her, Runa answered. She said she was going to the library with Rose to work on a paper, but agreed that he could meet them for a study break a little before 3pm.

The library was a glass fronted building with a huge atrium, off of which extended endless hallways of study rooms and computer terminals for accessing digital files. Gleaming white steps led down from the library to a large bronze sculpture of a Mockingjay installed five years before, and a lawn unnaturally green for so late in the autumn. Gale loitered outside, perching on the steps until he heard his name. "Hey Hawthorne!" Looking over his shoulder he saw Runa laughing and waving to him, Rose at her side, both women bundled against the cold and carrying their schoolbags on their shoulders, making them both look younger than they were. Grinning he popped to his feet and went to meet them.

"Hey," Gale said to Runa as he approached, his eyes meeting hers, then flickering to her tattoo, her lips, her nose, before coming back to her eyes as he resisted the urge to kiss her. Instead he leaned back on his heel and said, "You're in a good mood. Does that mean your paper's done?" Then he half-turned to Rose. "Hi Rose."

Runa quirked an eyebrow as she smiled and said, "Not done, but it's getting there."

Then Rose said, "Hi Gale. Ready to go?"

Runa nodded. "Where to?" Gale asked.

"The rink," Rose answered, already walking. "Come on, Spinner's probably already there."

Gale was about to ask what rink, when Runa asked him mischievously, "Ever been ice skating?" She reached out, taking his hand in hers, and led him after Rose.

* * *

"This is your idea of fun? I feel as if I just strapped knives to my shoes," Gale said with chagrin.

Runa bit her lip to keep from laughing. "Just give it a try. You'll get the hang of it." Rose and Spinner were already out on the ice, skating in lazy circles with the other students and Capitolites. Gale shifted his weight on the borrowed skates, trying to adjust to the unfamiliar pressure and balance they afforded. The skating boots felt heavy on his feet, clunky on the rubber floor outside the rink.

On their way to the rink Runa had tried to explain games that were played on the ice. His main thought was that this was yet another ridiculous way that the old Capitol had found to fill their vacant lives as the districts toiled away, providing more food and goods for the Capitolites than the districts had ever enjoyed themselves. New Panem was far from perfect, but at least now the districts received their due of Panem's resources and riches. Gale would have relived all his personal tortures from the war every day for his family to have the freedoms they now enjoyed.

On the ice, Gale slid his feet back and forth, trying to adjust to the new surface. Runa gave him a few pointers - bent knees, weight over the toes, pushing off one foot at a time. Then she took his hand and her cool fingers tugged lightly on his, dragging him further onto the ice. He tried not to grip her hand too tightly, to support his weight and move on his own. Slowly he adjusted to the unfamiliar way his feet shifted under him on the ice and began skating on his own. The ruts in the ice from the other skaters caught the blades of his boots and interrupted his smooth passage across the rink. Runa paused along the edge of the rink, pushing him ahead of her. Imagining her eyes watching him, he picked up speed and glided further around the rink, managing to stay on his feet and avoid running anyone over before he coasted into the board at the edge of the rink. From his new vantage point he looked back to find her, but she was gone.

In a moment, Rose and Spinner coasted by, calling out to him and waving. Then Gale saw Runa's vibrant hair behind them, on the far side of the rink. A moment later she was catching the board next to him, pink-cheeked and breathless, reminding him of how she'd looked at the bar after dancing, when he first truly knew who she was. It made him want to kiss her, but just then she slid away. After a few strides she turned, skating backward and beckoning for him to follow. Gale chased Runa down the edge of the rink until he caught up with her. They linked hands, and she grinned at him. "Show off," he joked.

"Just don't let me run into anyone," she said. He didn't mind it - he could see her face while watching behind her. He enjoyed the smiles she gave him, the warmth passing between their clasped hands, the moments sliding smoothly across the ice. They talked about the other skaters, Runa warning him of faster skaters before they whizzed past. Every few minutes Runa's eyes would catch on something and her focus would shift to someone behind him. Gale quickly realized that it meant Spinner and Rose had caught up to them again, and whatever laughter she let out or expression crossed her face was a response to her friends - he guessed to Rose, though he couldn't say for sure.

Gale stayed out on the ice with Runa until his ankles ached from the boots. Then he clambered off the ice for a break, removing his skating boots and watching the others skate through the crowd. He rolled his ankles to ease their stiffness from the tight boots and suppressed his grin watching the people on the ice. He was relieved that he hadn't fallen and caused Runa to crash onto the ice with him, as he saw others do. Then again, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad. He watched as a pair of teenagers laughed as they pulled each other up off the ice, arms wrapped around each other. Gale was imagining pulling Runa up off the ice, into his arms, when someone banged on the glass to his left and he turned to see Spinner waving at him, gesturing to the corner of the rink. A few minutes later Spinner, Rose and Runa peeled off the ice and met Gale in the corner, declaring themselves cold, tired and hungry. As they talked and laughed together, Gale caught Runa's hand in his for a moment. Her hands had been warm in his earlier, but now her fingertips were freezing. While they removed their boots, Gale wandered off to the concessions stand, returning with two hot chocolates which he handed to Runa and Rose.

A half hour and a few communicuff messages later, they met Carlos at a nearby pizza parlor for dinner. The pizza was hot, fresh from the oven, the perfect binge after the cold ice rink, and the five of them set upon devouring first one pizza, then another, with vigor.

Gale slid yet another slice onto his plate. Greedily chewing, Gale remembered his sister Posy telling him about her visit to District 12, about the sweets shop and pizza parlor. Guessing that Madge didn't know much about the new district 12, he told her, "Apparently there's even a pizza shop in District 12 now. Can you imagine if we had this when we were kids?" Not that his family could have afforded such a luxury - unless the shop owners had a soft spot for illegal game.

Next to him Runa froze, holding her pizza in midair. _Shit_, Gale thought, realizing his error as the others gave him puzzled looks.

Runa answered smoothly, "Oh? We've always had pizza in the Capitol."

"Right. I meant in the districts," Gale recovered, hoping it hadn't been completely obvious that he'd been talking specifically to Runa. "Did you all have it in 4?"

"I never saw it there, not before the war anyway," Spinner answered for them all. "It was all fish and tesserae in our house. Pizza's pretty new to us too."

"It's nice is all," Gale said, still covering. "How things have changed. You all seem to appreciate that." Luckily Spinner started in on a mild rant about everything wrong with the newest students of Capitol College, and Gale breathed a sigh of relief. Nobody seemed overly concerned about his comment. Runa had recovered smoothly as always, though he wondered if she'd react differently when they were alone.

When the pizza was gone and drinks were down to the melting ice in the glass, Carlos was the first to leave. Soon after, Runa glanced at her communicuff and said she should be going too.

"I'll walk you back," Gale offered. He didn't mind Runa's friends but he wanted to be alone with her - and the ice rink didn't really count.

Rose looked from Gale to Runa, eyebrows arched, hesitating for a moment. Then Runa told her, "You're the opposite direction. We'll be fine."

Rose shrugged. "Okay - see you." The four of them walked out to the darkened street and said goodnight. Rose and Spinner headed off in one direction, Runa in the other. After waiting all day he finally had her to himself. He caught her hand in his and followed a few minutes until Rose and Spinner were out of sight before pulling her to a stop. She turned, her hand coming up between them and resting on his chest. He wrapped his free hand into her hair and covered her lips with his mouth. For half an instant she resisted, before melting into him. Her hand slid out from between his fingers, and wrapped around his neck. Breathlessly he sighed. Their lips parted together, eager tongues pushing past joined lips. He wrapped his hand around her waist and pressed her to him, kissing her deeply, wanting to take in every part of her.

When they broke apart for good, his mouth twisted into a smile. "I couldn't wait any longer. I've been wanting to do that all day," he said, feeling her breath hot on his neck. As she smiled and turned to look at him, her nose brushed against his cheek, ice cold. She dropped her head to his chest, stretching her tested neck muscles. _Maybe a random sidewalk isn't the best place for this_, he thought.

"Come on," Runa told him, taking his hand in hers again. Soon they were back on campus, walking along a concrete path under barren trees. Clouds above reflected the green of the city lights. Next year, perhaps they would reflect orange, or whatever other color the Capitolites deemed 'the latest trend'. Some things had changed with the new regime, but most of the Capitol still seemed to be run by frivolous airheads worried about fashions and appearances instead of substance.

"Sorry ... about the 'back home' comment," Gale said. She hadn't mentioned it, but it still hung in his mind. He wondered if she was angry about it. As soon as the apology was out of his mouth he decided it was probably the worst timing in his history with women. He should have just left it alone.

She bit her lip. "I know you didn't mean to say it."

"It would be so much easier ... if they knew."

She stopped and faced him. "For you," she answered, almost accusingly. There was that look in her eye again, like he was already on thin ice.

Still he asked, "And not for you?" He pushed her hair back and traced a finger across the outline of her tattooed scar.

She sighed, "Don't. I don't want to think about that right now."

He dropped his forehead to hers, acquiescing for the time being. He was uneasy with the lies, uncertain if he could really pretend that Madge didn't exist. Runa lifted a hand and wrapped it around the back of his neck, then tilted her mouth up to his. He returned her kiss, slow and steady. He felt the same deep pool of desire, but this time refused to give in to it, still feeling conflicted over her lies hanging over them. He pulled away, regretfully. He was torn between his feelings for her and his aversion to her deception. It was one thing to not expose her, it was an entirely different thing to endorse the lies himself.

Slowly they walked on. "I wish you'd never heard of Madge Undersee," Runa admitted. _Then she could lie to me too_, Gale thought. He didn't say it. Runa continued, "except you might not have given me the time of day."

What if Runa was just Runa? What if she could lie to him as effectively as she lied to everyone else? Did she really think that would be better somehow? Better than admitting the truth? Gale didn't want to think about _what ifs_ any more, so he didn't answer. Up ahead of them in the dark he noticed a huge black shadow of an imposing building and focused his thoughts on it instead of the woman beside him. As they got closer, he recognized the building. "We're back at the library?" he asked.

"Your car," she said, brow furrowed.

They walked past the front of the library, now vacant and dark. Inside the glass, the ceiling seemed like a window through the clouded sky to the stars. It was too reminiscent of the hunger games arena for him. "The library ceiling is a star-scape?" he asked warily.

"I guess someone didn't want us to forget what the sky is supposed to look like. We don't get many clear nights in the Capitol. It's one reason I love camping," Runa said.

"To see the stars?" Gale asked.

She nodded. "Feels like home," she answered quietly. He was surprised by this admission, this reference to home which could only mean District 12. It was the first time he had heard her say anything nostalgic about District 12, or her old life. Not that District 12 had been so great, but he'd begun to wonder what her life had really been like, if she didn't miss _anything_. It was something of a relief, a sign that Madge was still there somewhere inside her.

"Have you been back?" he asked, wondering again when she'd seen it last. If it had been ashes, or still burning.

"No," she said.

He told her, "If you want to see it ... I'd go with you." Gale tried to imagine it. He didn't know how she'd handle seeing District 12 - how could he? In truth, he was never comfortable visiting 12. He had no desire to visit Katniss and relive all the guilt of Prim's death. Thom had moved back too, but they'd drifted apart over the years. His family had stayed in 13, Hazelle wanting to give Vick and Posy some stability rather than trying to move back to 12. It wasn't so bad now that they were rebuilding above ground. He told her, "You could see 13 too. You could meet Posy ... "

Runa looked up at him. "Gale Hawthorne are you inviting to meet your family?"

Was he? He'd said it without really thinking it through. He'd never taken a woman home with him. He wondered what his Ma would think if he showed up in District 13 with Runa in tow. He'd told her about Runa really being Madge - and she'd told him not to betray Runa. Because of Purnia. Right? He didn't think Hazelle would talk Runa into admitting the truth. He didn't know how his family would react, but he knew that he'd take her home with him in a heartbeat. He shook his head."If you wanted," he repeated.

Runa sounded wistful as she said, "I'd like to see them again. Someday."

Runa shivered slightly, her arms pulling her coat taut across her body. "I better get you home before you freeze out here," Gale told her. He drove toward her apartment a short distance from the library.

When he pulled up to her curb, they tarried in the car. Gale wouldn't invite himself in, probably wouldn't have accepted if she had offered, yet he was unwilling to let the evening end. "Do you have to work tomorrow?" he asked.

Runa answered, "college isn't all parties and fun you know. End of semester is coming. I have papers due and exams to take in pretty much every class."

"So you're pretty busy?" He almost offered to help, but he remembered Purnia's advice. This was different, he thought, but things were already complicated enough. He'd leave it for tonight.

"Not all day. Maybe ... you could come by in the morning?" she suggested. They agreed on 10 am. It seemed to Gale no time at all had passed since they had said goodnight to Runa's friends, though he seemed to have more conflicted thoughts about Runa than ever before. They leaned into each other to kiss goodnight. When Runa had pulled away from him, the feeling of her lips lingered in Gale's mind as she left the warm car and jogged up the sidewalk to her building.

* * *

On his drive back to his hotel, Gale thought again about his offer to take Runa to the outer districts, and wondered how she was going to spend her winter break. The college had a two week break at the start of winter, after one set of classes ended and before the next begun. Before the war the break had been scheduled to coincide with the end of the Victory Tour, when the winning Hunger Games tribute visited the Capitol. Now, it was a time for remembrance - of victors, tributes, and all those lost in the war. It was also a time of high tension between the various political factions. Now that the districts had a say in things, there was a lot of dissention over how things should be done.

Vick would be visiting their family in District 13, which meant Ma would want Gale to come too. Was he seriously considering taking Runa to 13? He hadn't even lasted the day without accidentally referring to her previous life in 12. And she'd said she'd like to see Posy _someday_ ... as in, not anytime soon. Gale didn't think taking Runa to 13 with him was a real option, but somehow ... he wished it was.


	9. Sunday: Waterfalls

**A/N: Sunday comes a little early. Hope you like it. :) Thanks to Belle for her beta.**

* * *

He arrived with coffee and croissants for two, a sly kiss on her cheek and a look that left her breathless. Before she knew what was happening he'd stripped off his jacket, claimed half of her small futon, and stretched his long legs out in front of him as if he belonged there.

He handed her a coffee and pastry and asked, "So what do you want to do? Archery practice? Not that you need it."

Runa's answer surprised him. "Maybe we could get off campus," she offered. "Have you been to Solar Falls?"

Gale frowned. Hesitantly he said, "No ... Is that the one there are ads for on the highway?" Gale had worried that if they stayed at her apartment they'd only wind up in a confrontation about her lies, but the overhyped, Capitol-ized waterfall he'd seen advertised - with rainbow lights and cheesy music playing around the clock - wasn't his idea of a good alternative.

Less than a half hour later, they exited the highway onto the winding mountain road toward Solar Falls. They had gained elevation; the ground and trees around them were coated in an inch-thick layer of snow. Runa watched the road. Ten miles from Solar Falls as they passed a small fuel station she waved her hand in the air, pointing down the road. "There's a lot about a half mile from here where we can park," she told him, still looking out the window.

"We're nowhere close to the falls," Gale commented suspiciously.

Runa ignored his protest. "Up there on the right. See it?"

Humoring her, Gale pulled into the small empty lot, downed the last of his coffee, and climbed out of the car into the cold mountain air. He watched her hop out of the car and asked, "Now what?"  
Runa swung her bag onto her shoulder and pointed to a small trail leading uphill from the corner of the lot. "There's a hiking trail here," she said. "Unless you really wanted to see Solar Falls?"

"That's alright," he smiled. He dug into his luggage in the trunk and swapped jackets for one better designed for hiking. They headed up the trail together, their feet crunching through the snow at a steady pace. The hillsides were steeper than those around District 12, the mountains taller. They were well below the treeline, surrounded by large Douglas Fir trees that magnified the feeling of seclusion along the trail. Soon all they heard beyond their own steps and intermittent conversation about the trail was the occasional chatter of mockingjays or chickadees and the rustling of squirrels. As they moved further along the trail, Gale heard the faint sound of running water.

Then they turned a corner along the trail, and in front of them was a broad, flat cascade of water streaming between large boulders over a short cliff. Sunlight filtered down through the overgrown trees on the hillside above the waterfall. Gale smiled, walking up behind Runa. His hands stroked lightly across her shoulders. He glanced down at her as they stood together, then leaned down and kissed the unscarred side of her neck, his nose brushing the edge of her jaw.

She shifted her weight, bending her neck toward his lips and raising her right hand to his left. At her encouragement Gale pressed another kiss into the base of her neck, closing his eyes and breathing in as her nearness pulsed through him. A moment later she turned into him and lifted her lips to his. The world retreated so that all he was conscious of was the sound of rushing water, his racing heart, and her. He felt her hands on his jaw and smiled into the kiss. Slowly the world around them returned. Her lips dropped from his and they looked into each other's eyes.

"Beautiful," he told her.

The corners of her eyes crinkled as she smiled. "I thought you'd like it."

"The waterfall is nice too," he said with a wink, glancing quickly up at the scenery. She shook her head with a small laugh and bit her lip. _She does that a lot_, he thought, looking at her mouth. He was determined, today, to just be with her, to try to get to know the woman she'd become instead of asking about her past.

"There are more," she answered. "Further upstream. Come on." She grasped his hand and coaxed him back into motion along the stream-side trail.

At the base of the next waterfall they sat on a large flat rock beside a wide pool of water where they sipped hot tea from a thermos and snacked on peanuts and almonds. They distracted themselves with stolen kisses as they fed each other dried apple slices.

"I dare you to jump in," Gale teased. He knew she wouldn't - given the air temperature and how far up trail they were, even a quick swim would put an end to their fun.

Runa laughed. "You've got to be kidding. Do you want me to freeze to death?"

Gale moved closer to her, wrapping his arms around her. "I'll warm you up," he said with a wolfish grin.

Her eyes widened and she pushed him away playfully exclaiming, "You wretch! I'd like to see you dive into that."

Gale's face brightened. "Would you?" He stood up abruptly and walked to the edge of the water, watching her as he crouched down on one knee to dip his fingers into the cold water, then shake them dry. He knew better than to dive in, but he smiled as if deciding on a swim and slid his jacket off his shoulders.

Still laughing she protested, "Gale!"

"What?" he grinned, hands on the hem of his shirt.

Don't you dare," she told him firmly.

He lifted his eyebrows, stalking back toward her. "Why not? We could both go for a swim. It'll be invigorating."

She gave him a withering glare, though her lips curved upward. "I have a rule," she said smartly, "about not swimming in remote streams when there's snow on the ground." She stood up, brushing herself off and telling him, "You want invigorating, try the path to the next waterfall."

At the third waterfall they turned around and began back to the car, moving faster to keep warm as they carefully made their way downhill. It was almost 3:00 by the time they got back to Runa's.

* * *

It was warm in the small apartment. Or maybe it just seemed warm, because Runa sat so close to him on the futon. She was almost in his lap, their thighs still pressed into each other. No, the apartment was warm. Sometime during the kissing she had pulled off her sweater, revealing a red tank top underneath. Showing more of her burns. It was worst around her shoulder and part of her arm, where scarred pink skin puckered underneath the red and gold of the tattoo. He pressed his lips to her collarbone and felt her breath on the back of his neck. Tilting his head back he ran a fingertip down the edge of the design at the side of her face, the furthest extent of the burns, and she shivered. She didn't stop him or pull away.

"Does it hurt?" he asked quietly.

She was quiet for a minute before she answered. "It aches mostly," she said. "It's not so bad now - summer is worse." He nodded.

"What about you?" she asked.

Puzzled he asked, "What do you mean?"

"Does any of it hurt? You were shot. And whipped. I don't even know what else."

"Oh," he answered. "No, no physical pain." He'd had some of the best medical care available after Snow surrendered. They'd restored his body then, and every time it had needed it since. But they couldn't erase all his wounds.

She furrowed her brow and he gave her a wry smile. "I've got other problems," he explained flatly, tapping the side of his head.

She dropped her gaze, looking embarrassed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to - "

"No," he interrupted her. "It's fine."

An awkward silence settled over them. Then Runa laughed sadly. "For a little while I thought we were going to make it a whole day. Without, you know."

He leaned back, to better assess her expression. She seemed resigned more than resistant. He looked at her for a moment, then shrugged. "We're only talking about injuries. Not where they came from."  
She sighed. "Can you really separate the two?"

"No." His voice came out hard. Stiffly he added, "But I'm trying to pretend. That doesn't mean I like it."

She deflated, her shoulders hunching in. "Thank you, for that. For everything. I know it's not - been easy."

"No," he repeated, softer this time. She seemed on the verge of opening up and telling him about her past. He wanted to ask her, but didn't want to scare her off. He waited.

* * *

Her heartbeat thumped loudly in her ears. _What am I doing?_ she asked herself. She'd be better off if she could just forget him, but it was too late for that. Even when she thought he'd only been trying to repay a debt she couldn't let go of the thought of him. Maybe she was just scared of ruining whatever was starting between them, of losing what he awakened in her.

She could no longer ignore her almost forgotten past. His very presence dredged up old memories, forcing her to face what she had lost. Though he hadn't forced the issue he had shown his interest - about the tattoo and the burns it covered, about her past. He seemed always on the verge of asking. How could she admit that while he'd been taking down Snow's armies she'd been cowering in an attic? She had to learn to deal with all the memories his presence triggered before she could think about explaining her past to him. She knew she couldn't deflect his curiosity forever - she didn't want to, but couldn't they go one day without talking about the war or District 12? And today had been going so well.

She shouldn't keep putting it off. What if he gave up on her? She took a deep breath and thought of what he'd said the night before. She told him, "I don't know what to tell you ... I've been Runa for so long. It's not a lie to me, not anymore. My friends have never even heard of Madge Undersee. They only know Runa, and I have never felt like I was deceiving them. At least, not until you came along."

"Me?" His eyes widened in surprise.

She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Did he really not know the havoc his presence had caused in her life? "Yes, you. Showing up at Red Rocks with no warning? What was I supposed to do?"

His brow puckered low over his eyes. "You never thought about what would happen if you ran into someone you knew?" he scolded.

Her back straightened, adding to the distance between them. A choked laugh bubbled out of her. "Ten years ago, sure. But when year after year, it never happened? Do you realize how few people would actually recognize me? Vick was the first person from 12 I'd seen in ten years, and he didn't ..." she broke off uncertainly. Tears formed behind her eyes, which she willed away. She balled her hands into fists and sucked in air, filling her lungs, then slowly released it and stretched her fingers out. Then took a second breath.

Continuing she said, "Then you show up. I had to pretend I didn't know you. How was I supposed to know _this_ would happen? I thought if I just got through the weekend, you'd be gone. And my friends - I can't tell them now, Gale. What would they think?" Her forehead creased in worry and she bit her lip, fighting tears.

"I don't know. Shouldn't you at least try?" He sounded bitter.

She didn't answer. The wilderness group was all she had besides Purnia. She couldn't risk losing them. And while telling her friends felt like the most immediate problem - at least as long as Gale was spending time with them - it wasn't the main concern. She had never told anyone about what happened before she became Runa. What should she say to him now? She jumped to her feet, suddenly feeling jittery with anxious energy. She folded her arms across her chest.

"You don't know -" She hesitated.

"Then tell me!" he said. She felt his eyes on her. Her eyes drifted around the room, looking everywhere but at him. "Please. Help me understand it."

There was a long pause. She wanted a way out of this, a way to keep it all buried. But Gale was going back to District 2 soon. Who knew when she would see him again. If she couldn't tell him anything about her past ... "I don't even know where to start," she answered, defeated.

He asked, "How did you get out? After the bombing."

The bombing had destroyed her home, but she had already lost her home before the bombs fell. It was a small question. She could at least give him this. She said, "I didn't. I wasn't there."

He was looking at her eyes. She looked at the floor, then the ceiling, then back to the floor. "I was already gone. I don't know who else was in that house besides my parents but it wasn't me."

"What do you mean, already gone?" he asked.

Runa breathed deeply and raised her eyes to meet his. He was waiting expectantly. _I can do this_, she thought. _I can tell him._ "I mean," she said pointedly, "that they took me to the Capitol the day of the interviews."

"What? How? Why?" The questions tumbled out of him one after the next.

She tried not to see it all again. She spoke flatly, repeating the story as if it wasn't her own. "Thread and three Peacekeepers came to my house with orders to send me to the Capitol. They claimed it was for my protection, because of the uprisings in the districts. But they really just wanted leverage against my father, and ... I don't know. They said my mother was too sick to come. Purnia and the two other Peacekeepers took me. By the end of the quell I was in a cell in the Capitol. I didn't even know about the bombing until later."

"Then how …" he trailed off, gazing at her scars with a furrowed brow. Then his face tightened and he asked, "did they do this to you?" He gestured to her burns.

Of course, she realized. Of course he had thought her burns were from the bombing. "No," she said. "That happened later." She hoped he wouldn't ask how.

Gale sat back on his heels. "If you were imprisoned, why didn't we ever hear about it? Why hide who you were?"

"You think you knew about everyone they had locked away? That it was only the victors? I wasn't important to the rebellion, Gale. Nobody cared that I was there. Nobody." It was too personal, too close to her family, her desolation. She wanted him to wrap his arms around her. She wanted to curl up into a ball and bury her head in his chest. He didn't move from the futon. She didn't move from her place across the room where she had stopped pacing. She needed to stick to the facts if she was going to get through this. A couple breaths later she could speak clearly again.

"Purnia was a guard in the prisons. She was feeding information to the rebels, as much as she could. When they came to rescue the victors, she was on watch. She killed the surveillance cameras. She knew her cover would be blown, even though she wasn't guarding the victors themselves. And she knew they could only rescue the victors, the people that could help the rebellion."

Gale's face contorted. "You were there? We could have saved you! I could have – I didn't even know you were there -"

She froze. She should've guessed he was on the rescue team. She felt a fresh surge of anger – not at him, but at the situation. At their powerlessness. He couldn't blame himself. "Don't. You couldn't have. I wasn't even in the same wing," she argued. "There was no way the rebels – no way _you_ could have gotten us all. You know there wasn't time. It's no one's fault. It's just the way it is."

"Purnia had to get out. She freed me and we went underground together. She was from the Capitol originally. We went to her family – her mother and sister. Hid in their attic." She pushed the women from her thoughts as quickly as they came. It was too painful.

She bit her lip and glanced at Gale. His face was pained but he was listening intently. "Peacekeepers came. They questioned and threatened Purnia's family. When they kept claiming ignorance the Peacekeepers eventually gave up. They probably thought we'd escaped with the other rebels. We spent the war hiding in that attic. I'm not like you Gale. I'm no war hero."

"Don't call me that," he said, with a bitterness she didn't understand. It was a poor attempt at humor but she didn't expect it to make him angry.

"You saved hundreds of innocent lives. It's thanks to you there's anyone left from District 12 to recognize me," she quipped.

His eyes lingered on her scar. "And because of me other hundreds are dead."

She frowned at him. "You couldn't save them all," she said.

His eyes still stared blankly at her scar. After a few seconds he looked down at the floor. "That's not what I meant."

What did he mean? She remembered his comment on the dance floor, about how all Panem thought they knew his story. She'd thought he was talking about Katniss. What other secrets was he harboring from the war?

She sank down onto the futon beside him and leaned against his arm. He lifted the arm out of the way so she wedged herself against his body, and his arm wrapped around her. She laced her fingers into his. Something about his touch blurred her thoughts. She had to tell him. If she could just get through this, it would be alright. Her voice barely above a whisper, she told him, "Those last days before Snow surrendered we joined the other Capitol refugees. We couldn't stay where we were. We had no food, we were slowly starving. There were four of us – me, Purnia, her mother, and her real sister Runa, and they would have barely survived with just two of them."

Her voice tightened. "They couldn't even ask for housing, because of me. They wouldn't. So we were out on the streets. Runa was trying to barter for food when one of those pods went off. Firebombs all around her. We tried to save her but there was so much smoke, we couldn't even tell who was who. We just tried to save anyone we could." She remembered their frantic desperation, the sting of smoke in her eyes and flames on her skin, and the smell of burning flesh.

This time she didn't try to stop the tears. She just let them flow, feeling the empty weight of it in her chest. She hiccupped, sobbing into Gale's side, and felt his arms tighten around her to comfort her. She felt weak next to him, but he'd heard the worst of it. She willed herself to finish. "There were all these rumors that Coin wanted to have another hunger games, but for children of Snow's supporters and officials. Purnia thought since my dad was a Mayor, they might think he supported Snow. So at the hospital, she told them I was Runa. Runa died because of me. And Purnia gave me her identity to keep me safe."

Drained from her admission she closed her eyes and collapsed into him. For better or worse, he knew her past. She couldn't think about the repercussions now. His hand stroked her hair until her sobs quieted and her breathing steadied. When she looked up at him, his gray eyes watched her with concern, his forehead creased in the center. He wiped a thumb across her wet cheek, then pressed his lips to her forehead tenderly. His touch unwound her. Without thinking she reached up, pulled him down to her, and crushed her lips to his. She had been hiding for ten years, and now in this moment she didn't have to hide. She was just Madge. And he was just Gale. And this was so much more than just a kiss.


	10. Interlude

**A/N: Thanks to Belle453 for her beta. Thanks to all of you for your support! Hope you enjoy. :)**

* * *

Her apartment was small, only one main room and a tiny bathroom. The main room had a small kitchen at one end with a mini refrigerator, sink and cooker. A small table with two chairs created the only barrier between the kitchen and the rest of the room. The futon was pushed up against one wall. The opposite wall was filled with bookshelves, drawers, and a cabinet.

He'd stayed too long and missed the evening train to District 2. He didn't care. He wouldn't have left her for all the world. If he took the early morning train he could still get to work at a decent time - late enough he'd need to call in and tell the office, but not late enough to cause him any real problems.

At some point she realized how late it was, and that he should have left already. Sheepishly he explained, and said he would go back to the hotel for the night. She listened, yawning. Then she curled her hand around his and mumbled, "just stay."

"I shouldn't. Besides you should get some sleep," he said, though he wanted to stay.

She looked at him more alertly and raised her eyebrows. "You can sleep here as well as you can sleep in a hotel. You can use the futon." She walked across the room to the far wall and shifted her backpack and a stack of clothes onto a shelf.

"I can sleep on the floor," he countered.

"Futon. I have a bed you know." She tugged on a long drawer which pulled out to reveal a foam mattress on a broad shelf, now hanging from the wall out into the empty space of the room. He'd heard about this kind of space-saving bed but he'd never seen one. It didn't seem very sturdy to him.

"You sleep on that?" he asked.

She smiled. "Yes. You'd be surprised. It's really comfortable."

Madge disappeared into the bathroom. After several minutes she emerged in warm winter pajamas, her face freshly washed and her hair pulled back into a low ponytail. She gave Gale one of her pillows and the blanket folded on the back of the futon. Then Madge turned out the lights and in the dark told him, "goodnight Gale."

"Goodnight," he answered quietly.

His pillow smelled like her.

Gale lay awake on the futon long after Madge fell asleep. He listened to her shallow, steady breaths across the room. He didn't understand why she hadn't just told him everything from the beginning. He could understand her behavior on the camping trip - she'd been caught by surprise and acted defensively. But after that? Why didn't she just tell him? Gale didn't understand why Madge was hiding. He'd heard her story - he finally knew what had happened to her, how she'd survived and become a Capitolite. It was terrible that she'd had to endure it, but as far as he could tell she had nothing to be ashamed of, and nothing to fear from being identified. The threat of another hunger games had been true once - Gale had heard about it from Beetee before he had left for District 2. But that threat had died along with Coin. The war had barely ended. She could've come clean then.

He willed himself to go to sleep, but his mind wouldn't slow down enough to let him. He was missing something, he was sure. He had thought knowing the truth would make things easier, but instead it had just led to more questions. He worried Madge would expect him to still play along with her cover, and how long could he keep that up? Could he lie for her? Would she ever be willing to risk her life as Runa to tell the truth? Or were they already doomed?

* * *

Gale woke to whispered breath on his ear. "It's time to get up," a sing-song voice murmured. He opened his eyes to find violet eyes and pink lips smiling back at him. She looked so happy. He felt heavy remembering everything from the night before. Madge seemed carefree by comparison. Beaming at him, she pressed her lips to his quickly before hopping to her feet.

"What time is it?" he sighed.

"Six fifteen," she said. "I figured you wanted to catch the first train. Do you want some breakfast first? I have eggs. Or oatmeal. It's supposed to be cold today."

"No," he answered. "Thanks."

"Are you okay?" she asked, a small frown interrupting her easy manner.

He mustered a small smile. "Yeah. Just tired," he lied. He knew he shouldn't. He didn't want to. But she looked so happy. He didn't want to take that from her, so he told himself now wasn't the time.

She smiled, but hesitantly. Some of the bounce left her step after that, but she didn't question him. She tucked her bed away and prepared coffee while he cleaned up. Before he knew it they were standing at her door, ready to say goodbye. But not ready, not really.

Despite his doubts, she was still enticing, biting her lip in her usual way. He smiled and raised his hand to her cheek. As he rubbed his thumb across her lip, she moved her mouth to kiss it. She wasn't making this any easier on him. He dropped his lips to hers and shared a gentle kiss that belonged to these early morning hours. She tasted like cream and coffee.

* * *

Back in his office in District 2, Gale already felt the distance. Everything had changed since Friday, when he had still been focused on getting Runa to speak to him. She had been such a puzzle then, and he hadn't even known if she could feel anything for him. Anything besides the anger that he'd seen when he'd chased her home from the restaurant. The weekend had realized all his hopes, but left him facing the reality of what a relationship with "Runa" would mean.

He sent a short message to her saying he'd made it back. Of course his coworkers noticed - he couldn't remember the last time he had come in late, let alone not showing until lunch time. A couple of the guys assumed the worst. A few of the women looked at him with raised eyebrows, but he shrugged it all off.

Ania caught him up on what he had missed at the team's weekly meeting. He liked Ania, mostly because she never asked about his personal life, and he knew that whatever he did say wouldn't become part of the office gossip. They needed to begin planning the training exercises for the spring. All the soldiers went through ethics training, but these exercises were designed to combine regular training and ethics. The trick was that the soldiers weren't supposed to know about the ethics component. Instead, issues were planted into the exercises to see whether soldiers reported unethical decisions correctly and how they reacted in the heat of the moment.

There was more than enough work to keep him busy and distract him from Madge while he was in the office. At home was a different story. Monday night was lonely after the weekend in the Capitol. He missed her. Their hike the day before had been perfect. He'd been expecting far less, given all her talk about studying. And how she'd thrown him with that Solar Falls idea. He was amazed she'd come up with such a perfect way to spend the day together. It had been a big deal for her to open up and tell him about her past. He wanted to call her, but he didn't. As much as he missed her he still worried about if he could really have a relationship with her, given the lies.

Tuesday night he resolved to distract himself. He brought home a few of the backlogged district reports that he still needed to review. He tried calling his family in 13, but there was no answer. He was reading through a report from the District 9 command when a video call buzzed on his communications screen. Expecting his family to call back, he answered without looking up from the report. He finished jotting a few notes in the margins of the page as he said, "Hey Ma, just a sec."

He heard a snort and a laugh. Looking up, the brilliant red in her hair was the first visual cue to his mistake. "Gale it's me," Madge said.

He was happy to see her, he was. But he was still conflicted about her pretending to be Runa. He set the papers aside and smiled at the screen. "Sorry - I was expecting family. How are you?"

"Good," she answered brightly. "I finished that paper today. The one I was working on this weekend. It took me half the day yesterday, and I have a test on Thursday I'm studying for. But I needed a break, so ... I thought I'd say hi."

"That's sounds great ..." Gale replied, still pulling his thoughts from his work. He was glad she'd called instead of waiting on him. He'd meant to call by now but his doubts had held him back.

She brushed her hair back out of her face with one hand, still smiling. "What about you? Is everything okay with your work? I hope I didn't get you into any trouble yesterday."

Gale shook his head. "No, work's fine. I was just ... catching up on some reports."

"Good. I'm glad it was okay. I would've felt really bad. I mean, Sunday was so nice. But I didn't mean to make you miss your train. I guess I'm just glad it didn't cause any problems for you."

"Right," he said. After a pause he added, "Sunday was great."

Madge hesitated. "Gale should I let you go? You seem a little ... distracted."

"Sorry." He shook his head, wondering what was wrong with him. Other than the fact that he was an ethics officer whose girlfriend - should he even call her that? - wanted him to lie about who she was. He now avoided calling her by name, not wanting to call her Runa and not sure she would let him call her Madge. He had started to notice every time she said his name.

"It's fine. I didn't mean to interrupt. We can talk another time." Her voice was still upbeat but he could see a trace of disappointment in her face.

He shouldn't let the call end this way. He shouldn't stew in all the potential problems looming down the road for them. But romantic attachments didn't come easily to Gale - they hadn't since the war. He was always looking to what would go wrong, how his heart might be broken again. And all the heart-crushing possibilities were all too obvious with Madge. Regretfully he assented, said goodnight, and let the call end.

Wednesday he sent her another short message to wish her luck on her exam, and received a thanks a short while later. It wasn't enough. He wished he hadn't been so brusque with her the other night.

Thursday he sent a message: "_video call?_"

Soon he received her reply: "_8pm?_"

"_It's a date_," he wrote back. Promptly at 8, he initiated the call. It took her a few minutes to reply. Then there she was, smiling at him through the screen. Her hair was pulled back from her face and she wore a dark scoop-necked shirt with long sleeves.

"How was your test?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Good. I think it was good. I never know for sure, I hate this part. The not knowing. Waiting for the grade. It's ... maybe it's silly."

Gale smiled. Leave it to Madge Undersee to hate waiting for a grade. Back when he was in school he'd always hated the tests themselves, and the studying beforehand. Ma had always insisted on the studying, but the tests had seemed meaningless. At the time he'd been destined for the mines, whatever his grades were. It was later that he'd learned to care about how well he'd done.

"No, I think I understand," he told her. "When will you find out how you did?"

"Not until next week. I should be used to this by now, right? But at least I have other classes to study for. That should provide a little distraction."

"Probably. Too bad I won't be there to distract you this weekend," he said with a wink.

She laughed. "Yah. I wish you were here, but I guess I can't expect you to come here all the time. "

"Sorry. So do you have any study breaks planned this weekend?" He didn't want to dwell too much on the distance between them.

She shrugged. "Just time with the gang. Oak Barrel tomorrow. Maybe archery and knife practice. We'll see."

Gale squinted at her for a moment. "You're really close to them, aren't you?"

"Of course. They're my best friends. They're like home to me," she answered. She must have seen something in his expression, because then she asked warily, "What is it?"

He hesitated, but remembered that trying to avoid his doubts hadn't helped them on their last call. "Just ... they're Runa's best friends. It feels wrong that they don't know who you are."

Her face turned down in a mix of worry and anger. "They know who I am."

But they didn't, and he still didn't understand why she felt she had to keep it from them. Didn't she feel any loyalty to who she'd been? He couldn't imagine someone just walking away from who they were like that. Sighing Gale said, "You know what I mean. I'm sorry but I can't ignore it. Why won't you tell them?"

"Why should I tell them? It doesn't matter." Her voice was tight and controlled, but anger was taking over her expression.

Still he was sure she hated lying to them. She'd told him it hadn't bothered her until he turned up ... but surely that meant it bothered her now. Right?

She huffed. "Even if I told them, and they could somehow forgive the fact that I've been lying to them, what's the point? So they have to lie for me too?"

Gale couldn't stop the words from escaping him. "Oh, so it's too much to ask of them but not of me?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't be stupid. You already knew who I was. I just filled in the details."

She had a point, but he still didn't think it was fair of her to ask him to lie. "That doesn't make it okay," he growled through gritted teeth. He didn't want to fight though, and he forced his voice to be calm again. "I still don't get it. Why you're still lying about who you are. Why you didn't just come clean after the war. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I told you," she said. "It was to protect me."

He shook his head, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "Yeah, fine. At first. But once Paylor was elected? There wasn't any danger then. Why run away from who you are? What was the point?"

"What was the point? What was the point in being Madge, Gale?" Suddenly she was yelling at him. "What? To go back to 12? To tell my best friend that while she was the symbol of the rebellion, I was hiding out in an attic? Like a coward? Or to leave the only two people who still cared about me? Who still needed me after everything? Yeah Gale, that sounds really great. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Madge -"

"No. You don't get to decide how I live my life. You think I never thought about going back? You think it was easy giving up the name my parents gave me? I agonized. Every day. For years. If you can't see that ... "

With that the screen went black.

Gale sighed. _Great, now what_? He tried calling her back, but she didn't answer.

Gale had the distinct feeling of having stepped on a wasp nest. With that reaction, he had even less hope that she would ever come around. Her words repeated in his head, looping again and again. He understood her not wanting to go back to 12 - or at least he could relate. But did she really think she was a coward? It wasn't her fault that she'd been imprisoned.

As for people who cared about her - she had to mean Purnia and her mom. That was the piece he still didn't understand. Purnia was from the Capitol - when had she turned rebel? And why had she saved Madge? What was the bond between them that Purnia would put herself in danger to rescue Madge from the prison?

He tried Madge (Runa) again, but she still wasn't answering. Maybe, he thought, it was time to talk to Purnia again. He decided to sleep on it and make a decision in a few days.

Friday midafternoon Gale found a new message from Runa on his communicuff: "_video call? anytime_."


	11. Friday: The Call

**A/N: Thanks everyone for reading and especially everyone who's taken the time to review. Thanks for Belle453 for her beta. :)**

* * *

Gale stared at the message from Runa. She wanted to talk again. Considering her abrupt departure from their last conversation, he didn't know if that was good or bad. He thought about his schedule for the afternoon and when he would be home. Then he wrote back: "7_pm?_" He wanted time for one other call first.

"_7pm,_" she answered.

He sent one more message before getting back to work. As soon as he was home that night he made his call.

She answered quickly, looking tired but smiling at him through the screen. "Gale. I got your message. What's going on?"

"Hi Ma," he answered. "I just didn't want to keep crossing paths. Hope I didn't mess up your schedule."

"Don't be silly, I'm glad to hear from you. We've had such a busy week here." Hazelle looked over her shoulder at something off-screen.

Just then Gale's teenage sister Posy appeared in the corner of the screen, waving one hand toward him. "Hi Gale! When are you gonna come visit? We haven't seen you in forever. Sorry, can't stay to talk, I got a date." She said the word _date_ with relish. "Bye!" Then she grinned and disappeared off-screen again, as Hazelle called after her about her curfew.

"A date? Really, Ma?" Gale asked.

Hazelle laughed. "She's sixteen, Gale. It's Friday night, and she's going out with some friends. She just told you it's a date because she knew how you'd react. Now why don't you tell me what's so urgent that you called off our thrilling game of phone tag?"

"Can't I just want to talk to my family?" he asked with an overly innocent smile.

Hazelle raised one eyebrow. "If you want to pretend nothing's wrong, go ahead." Her look softened. "But you know you're going to tell me eventually. Why wait?" Gale pressed a finger to the bridge of his nose. He couldn't say he was surprised.

He needed to talk to somebody. He couldn't go telling anyone here in District 2 about Madge. Ma was the best person for it, but he hadn't mentioned Madge - or Runa - to his Ma since the last time he saw Vick. She had warned him against betraying the Bihars and that very night Madge had run out on their date. He'd decided to keep his mouth shut after that. Now she'd run out on him again, shutting down the video call when all he'd been doing was trying to understand why she was still pretending to be Runa.

He said, "You remember when I told you about Madge Undersee?"

"I remember. It's not every day I hear that kind of news. So it's really her?"

"Yeah, Ma. She told me. She told me what happened to her, and there's no reason for her to be hiding. She did nothing wrong," he told her.

Sternly she answered, "Gale. You can't turn her in. It's not your decision."

He ducked his head and ran a hand through his hair. "I know, Ma. But it's complicated."

"Tell me," she said.

He looked away. "Well I'm kind of dating her? Which ... makes it complicated."

When she didn't answer, he looked to the screen and saw Hazelle's raised eyebrows and the hand covering her mouth, suppressing whatever her reaction was. After a moment she lowered her hand and asked, "Kind of? In my day you were either dating or you weren't."

He rolled his eyes. He knew he wouldn't be able to hide his feelings for Madge so he gave up trying. Frustrated he answered, "Fine. We're dating. But only barely. And last night she hung up on me, so maybe that means we're fighting now, I don't know." Before she could answer he added defensively, "I wasn't telling her what to do. I was just asking a question, and she got all upset."

With that, Gale launched into an explanation of what had happened over the last several weeks. He didn't share the details of Madge's past, or his added guilt knowing she'd been in the prison when they rescued Peeta and the others. He glossed over a few other of the more intimate details, but he told Hazelle about archery practice and about that terrible first date. He explained about meeting Purnia, his reconciliation with Madge/Runa and their recent time together, as well as her continued resistance to telling her friends the truth. Hazelle pursed her lips thoughtfully as she listened to him.

When he finished she commented, "this really matters to you."

The way she said it she could have meant anything, but Gale knew better. He knew she meant his feelings for Madge. "It could," he admitted. "Except every time I think things are going well, something goes wrong and she flips out on me. At the restaurant over I don't know what. And now this. I swear, Ma, she's an emotional minefield."

"That doesn't sound like Madge," she argued mildly.

Gale laughed. "She'd totally agree with you. She'd tell you she's not Madge anymore. Not that we would know if she had changed."

"She has a point. Ten years is a long time."

"But how can I even date her if she's living a lie?" Gale grumbled. "I can't keep spending time with her friends if I have to lie to them about who she is."

"Gale," she said cautiously, "You think you need to solve this, but there's not always a quick fix. Don't rush into a decision you might regret later. Or force her to. Last time we talked about this you didn't even know what the consequences would be for her if she did come forward."

He shook his head. "She didn't do anything wrong. Whatever the consequences, it can't be that bad. I could help her."

"It's not just the legal issue," she chided. "Her whole life would change. I'm not saying she shouldn't, and I know why this is so important to you. But have you explained it to her?"

He sighed. "No, but…."

Hazelle looked fondly at him through the screen, her forehead creased slightly. "She told her story, Gale. She opened up to you. You want to do this right, you've got to be honest with her. You don't need me to tell you that. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

After a pause, she smiled lightly and asked, "any chance we'll see Miss Bihar in District 13 sometime?"

Gale felt a slight flush cross his face, remembering how he had so flippantly invited Madge to 13. That possibility seemed a long way off, now. "Ma! Bit early for that don't you think? We've only had two dates."

Her smile widened. "I'm not trying to pressure you, Gale. Just know she's always welcome here, whatever her name."

"Thanks, Ma." Gale allowed a small smile in return.

She nodded. "You'll work it out, I know you will. You both just need some time to sort this out. But be patient Gale. If this has been her life for ten years, I'm sure she's got her reasons. You can't expect her to change her mind overnight."

Gale wasn't feeling very assured, though she was probably right. He hated the situation, but Madge had told him what had happened to her. Maybe they just needed more time. If she was willing to give it to him.

Hazelle let the topic drop, having advised him as much as she felt he needed. They talked awhile longer, about the family and about life in 13. Gale marked the dates on his calendar when she filled him in on Vick's plans to visit over the school holiday.

* * *

Gale forced himself to grab dinner while he waited until 7pm - a simple sandwich and a beer. His communicuff read 6:59 when she called. He thought briefly about making her wait, but he was just kidding himself. He ran a hand through his hair and answered quickly. He took in her somber appearance as she appeared on his video screen. She wore a bulky sweater and her loose hair almost covered her tattoo.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," he answered, trying to gauge her mood. For a minute they both just looked at each other through the screen.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I really don't want to fight."

Gale chose his words carefully. "Neither do I. I wasn't trying to attack you yesterday. And I'm glad you told me about what happened during the war. I just wish I understood better."

She nodded slowly. "I overreacted, but." She sighed. Her teeth raked at the edge of her mouth. "You act like it would be so easy and it's not easy. I don't understand why it has to matter so much."

"I'm sorry. I know it's not easy, but I can't ignore it." Then Gale realized what she had just said, asking him why her identity was such a problem for him. And it wasn't the first time. She'd been asking him the same thing, practically every time they talked. His Ma had been right. To him it was self-evident, but it wasn't to her. He hadn't been open enough with her, and hadn't explained himself to her. Still, he balked at telling her about his past mistakes. "Maybe we both need another chance to explain ourselves. Will you at least talk to me about it?" he asked.

She wiped at her eye with one hand, her expression tense. "Of course we can talk about it."

He wished he was there with her. "Good," he said with a small smile. Then he added, "I miss you." He hated having this conversation over video call instead of in person.

Her look softened. "I miss you too. I was thinking maybe this weekend –"

Gale frowned. "I can't come to the Capitol every weekend. And don't take this the wrong way, but more time with your friends is not going to help this situation."

"No, I get that," she answered shaking her head. "It's not what I meant – but if you aren't too busy, what if I come there?"

"To district 2? That would be great, but this weekend? It's too long a trip; it doesn't make sense. You have finals and everything."

Madge assured him, "It'll be fine. I'll bring my schoolwork with me. I could catch the morning train, and study on the way."

"You would do that?" he asked.

"Of course I would. Video calls are fine for what they are, but I'd rather talk in person, wouldn't you?"

Gale immediately agreed. He never imagined she would want to come to District 2 - at least not during the semester. He'd thought maybe she would visit him once she was done with finals, if they were still together then. He agreed to meet her at the train station. Then she said she needed to pack and get some studying done before the morning. They said goodnight, each anxiously awaiting the morning and the next time they would see each other.


	12. Saturday: At Gale's

**A/N: Thanks everyone for reading and for all your enthusiasm for this story. Thanks esp. to the guest reviewers who I can't respond to directly. :)**

**I hope you all enjoy this somewhat epic chapter. Thanks a million to Belle453 for her betas & unfailing support.**

**For the record (it was brought up in a review) - Yes, in his conversation with Hazelle, Gale undercounted his dates with Madge. 2 weekends (not counting camping), but probably 4 dates, or more, depending on how you count. But Gale wasn't being precise.**

* * *

Impatiently Gale watched the front of the train station from his hummer. When the crowds started to flow out into the parking lot, he jumped out of the car and leaned against the tall side door, the dark blue paint warm from the sun's rays. He pulled the door open and looked inside for no reason, then closed it again. He was nervous about Madge's visit.

Anxiously he watched for her to appear from the station. Then as he leaned back against the side of his car he spotted her. She pulled a small bag behind her as she walked quickly across the pavement, her eyes scanning the cars in front of her. When she was looking in his direction, he raised an arm and waved to get her attention. Recognition lit up her face as she spotted him. He pulled open the back of the hummer as she approached.

"This is your car?" she asked incredulously. "It's huge!"

Instinctively he defended his wheels. "It's not that big ..." he started, then stopped himself and admitted, "okay, it's huge. But I got it cheap." He shrugged, then leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Hi," he breathed.

She looked up at him and her smile crinkled the corners of her eyes. "Hi," she said, her eyes dancing over his face. She wrapped her hand around his neck and tilted her lips up to kiss him.

After a quick kiss they climbed into the hummer. As he threw the car into drive he asked her, "Are you hungry? We could stop somewhere for lunch if you want."

"That's okay, I -" she ducked her head. "- had a sandwich on the train."

As they drove through the city, Gale glanced over at her. Madge. Runa. He couldn't keep avoiding it. "I don't want to upset you, but can I ask you something?"

"What?" she asked, looking at him questioningly.

He tapped one hand on the steering wheel with anxious energy. "What should I call you?"

"What?" Her brow furrowed.

"Well ... can I call you Madge?" he asked.

"Oh," she answered with a start. "Umm, only Runa in public. You know. But if it's just us, then ... yes. You can call me Madge."

He nodded, smiling to himself. He wondered if she knew that she'd just given him more reason to avoid going out in public this weekend. _Nothing wrong with the privacy of home_, he thought.

It wasn't long until they were in his part of town, one of the villages a little removed from the heart of District 2. He felt suddenly self-conscious of his home as he pulled the hummer into his oversized garage. For a long time after the war he had lived in a small apartment in downtown District 2. But he'd never felt in sync with the rhythms of the city and he found himself drawn to the outer villages. No matter how much he'd wanted to avoid memories from home, the Seam and the woods were a part of him. He used to escape from his apartment every chance he got, to be free of the city crowds. He'd spend days out in the woods - camping, hunting, and sometimes just hiking. Eventually he'd bought a cabin on the outskirts of the Canyon Rim Sector and built the attached garage himself, with help from a few military buddies. It helped that housing was far cheaper at the edges of the district. The house was small by District 2 standards but it usually felt like far too much space for just him. It was the largest place he'd ever lived in and he had it all to himself.

They hung their coats by the door as he led her from the garage into the spare kitchen. He'd at least stocked up on groceries this morning. He hadn't been sure what to get. It was mostly frozen or preserved foods anyway this time of year, though there were fresh apples and squash. His fridge was almost full now. He'd gone a little overboard, uncertain of what she would like. Drinks had been easy at least - he knew what type of beer she liked, and that she used one of those flavored creams in her coffee. He bought the Caramel Spice flavored bottle, because it looked like what he had seen at her place in the Capitol.

Her eyes roamed around the kitchen and his followed. A stack of mail on the counter, a few photos of his family on the fridge. He wasn't much of a decorator but at least, he thought, everything was clean thanks to his efforts this morning. Next to the kitchen was a long wooden eating table with benches along both sides. He rarely used it unless he had visitors; usually he ate standing in the kitchen or at the desk in his home office.

"Help yourself to anything while you're here. Do you want something to drink? I have beer, juice, coffee - Ma might have left some tea the last time she was here, I could check," he offered.

"No. Thanks. Just some water."

"Sure," he said, pulling two glasses from the cupboard and filling them.

He handed her one and raised the other. "Cheers," he said. She tapped the edge of her glass against his and they each sipped their water.

As she lowered the glass, she looked more closely at the pictures on his fridge. "Your mom hasn't changed a bit. And oh my gosh that's Posy," she said. "Look at her. She's all grown up! Your mom looks so happy. This is a great picture."

Gale wasn't surprised that she could identify who was who in the picture, but he didn't expect her to sound so familiar with them. Plus she was biting her lip again. "You remember them?"

"They came to the Victor's Dinner for Katniss. Unlike a certain other someone." Then as if she sensed his discomfort she said, "Posy was so adorable. If your mom had let me I probably would have kept her for myself. I'd always wanted a sister." Setting her water glass down she asked, "So do I get a tour?"

Gale nodded agreement. "Not much to it. You've already seen the most important room - the garage. Keeps my baby warm at night," he joked. Madge gave him a look like he was crazy before he added, "The hummer? Okay, okay, just kidding. Everyone knows the kitchen is where it's at." He gestured to the space around them, then to the long table. "That's the eating area."

He led her through the main room of the house and down the hall, pointing out the bathroom, opening the door to the hall closet. At the next door he gave her a lascivious look and said suggestively, "the master bedroom ..." She laughed and he cracked a smile as she stepped into the room. The large comfortable bed was flanked on either side by night tables, one cluttered with odds and ends, the other bare. His single dresser looked lonely against the wall. Blue curtains flanked a series of windows on the far wall that looked out onto woods. Others had insisted he would want the curtains, though he never closed them. Gale suddenly caught himself wondering what she might add to the room, how she would change it, if she lived here. His eyes widened as he realized what he was thinking and silently chided himself for it. He leaned back against the wall trying to organize his thoughts, but Madge was already wandering back toward the hall.

He caught up to her quickly and they continued back down the hall together. At the door to his office Gale hesitated, then shrugged and said simply, "this is the office. Work follows me home sometimes." She glanced through the room, as she had the others, until her eyes rested on the bookshelf. She stepped toward it as her eyes scanned the rows of books on military strategy and ethics. He wondered what she was thinking. He walked up behind her, resting his hands on her shoulders. "I realize I haven't explained myself very well. You keep asking me about why the whole Runa thing matters to me. This is partly why."

"I'm not hurting anyone," she said stiffly, folding her arms over her chest.

"No you're not," he agreed. Feeling anxious and remembering Hazelle's advice he added, "We don't need to talk about it now." She turned uncertainly toward him, but her eyes caught on something before reaching him. Before she could say anything more he said, "Come on," taking her hand to lead her out of the room. He couldn't wait to get her out of there. Away from the possibilities of the bedroom and tensions of the office he was able to relax more. He led her up the stairs to the loft, with its guest bedroom and second bathroom. He told her that the loft was space for guests, which made it officially hers for the weekend. He hoped she would be more comfortable if she could claim some space for herself - if she got mad at him again she could just storm up to the loft & gain some privacy. As far as he was concerned she could sleep wherever she wanted, but he didn't know what her expectations were or how the weekend would go. Her bag was still sitting in the kitchen where they'd left it, so he would have to wait and see. For now she seemed more interested in the view from the window than the rooms themselves.

Finally, Gale led her back through the main room of the cabin to the glass doors that opened out onto a wooden deck. Walking out onto the deck, Gale noticed it was littered with dead pine needles, which he had forgotten to sweep off earlier. The air was crisp and cold, and smelled of the pine forest and smoke. Through the trees he could see a thin gray cloud emanating from a neighbor's chimney. The trees around the house weren't crowded as they were further down the hill, so they could see out through the conifers.

"It's cold out," Madge commented, tugging the sleeves of her light sweater over her hands. Their coats still hung inside the cabin on the coat rack by the garage.

"C'mere," he said, reaching toward her. She stepped into his arms and he rubbed his hands over her arms to spread some warmth through them before kissing her. He was happy for the job of keeping her warm, and kept his arms wrapped around her as he dropped his lips to hers. He felt her shiver; their breath steamed in the cold air whenever their mouths parted.

A red-tailed hawk cried somewhere above them and Gale glanced up to the sky and then out in the woods. It was still only early afternoon, but they stood in the gray shadow of the cabin. Gale spotted the small silhouette of the calling hawk against the pale blue sky. Bright sunlight lit up patches of forest floor and glinted off thin needles, scattering light through the forest. Madge turned her head to see what he saw, and he shifted so that she could turn more easily. She leaned her back against him and they looked out at the woods together.

"Mmm," he hummed. He pulled his arms around her, covering her hands, still buried in her sleeves, with his. He could tell through the light fabric that her hands were cold again and guessed she had had enough of being outside. "So that's it. There are a few neighbors but it's pretty quiet most of the time. Usually there's snow by now, but it's been a dry fall. We can go back inside if you want."

"Yeah, I'm a little cold. But your place is really nice. I like it," she said.

He kissed her cheek and led her back into the main room of the cabin to the couch.

When she had settled herself on the couch, Gale leaned over for another kiss. Returning the kiss she leaned into the couch and he followed. For a moment they twined together, and then she pulled back and put a hand on his chest, lightly pushing him away. Apologetically she asked, "Maybe we should start by talking?" He sat back with a sigh. The kissing would have been more fun. But he knew she was right.

Before he could ask her where to start, she asked, "Is Rory in District 13 too? He wasn't in those pictures in your kitchen, was he?"

Bitterly he answered, "Rory moved to District 4. We aren't close." He didn't want to talk about Rory. Talking about Rory led to talking about why Rory hated Gale, which led to Prim and the war. For all her hiding, Madge had far less to be ashamed of than he did, and he wasn't ready for her to deal with all that yet.

Madge hadn't missed the tone in his voice. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know that." Lightly she added, "See? I already learned something new about you."

It puzzled Gale how she began conversations by talking about his siblings. "Why are you always asking about my family anyway? You barely knew them."

"They're part of you. I like hearing about who you are with them," she answered simply. As she said it, he realized it was one of their differences - his whole family had survived the war relatively intact, hers had vanished in one terrible night.

Looking at her with new insight he asked, "Is that why you became Runa? Because your family was gone?" Realizing he'd thrust them back into the same conversation that had ended so poorly on the video call he stopped himself. "I'm sorry, you don't have to - "

Madge waved the apology away. "New family, new person? I guess in a way, that was part of it. There was nothing left of my life as Madge, literally nothing. Even Katniss was different - and she had her own problems. Purnia saved me and her family took me in. They made me one of them, so leaving that - it would've felt like a betrayal. I'm myself when I'm with her. Like you are with your family."

"So that's why you ask about them? My family I mean."

Madge laughed a little. "Well you started it. After I left the restaurant that night, you spent the whole walk back to my place talking about them."

"I still don't understand why you were so mad at me that night," he said, referring back to her walking out on him during their first date.

"Yeah. Well I ...," she hesitated. "I was confused. It's a long story."

"So you're not going to even try to explain?"

She grimaced and shook her head _no_ in reply. Gale let it go - there were plenty of other things for them to talk about. Following her example, he asked Madge more about Purnia and her family, and she told him what life had been like with them. She explained that Purnia's mother had died a few years back, and since then it had just been the two of them. She talked about what life was like in the Capitol and he talked about District 2.

At some point there was a lull in conversation. After a pause Madge asked him, "Why do you have that stuff in your office?"

Gale sighed, "I'm an ethics officer. Madge. It's what I do."

"Not the books. I mean on the shelf behind your desk. You pulled me out of the room as soon as you saw me looking at them."

He rubbed a palm across the back of his neck and looked down at the floor. He'd been so focused on whether or not he could live with her lie, he had been ignoring the problem of telling her about his past. He hadn't meant for her to see them, not yet. The water-smoothed rock from outside District 12. The charred granite from the Nut. The remnants of a parachute bomb.

"They're just reminders," he said quietly. He had known he would have to tell her eventually, but he hadn't thought it would be so soon. The idea still terrified him. Maybe it wouldn't matter that he couldn't lie to her friends. Once she knew about his past she might want nothing to do with him anyway.

Pressing him she asked, "reminders of what?"

"Of who I am. What I've done." Gale drew a shaky breath. "There's a lot of blood on my hands, Madge."

"From the war? That's not your fault."

Gale's jaw clenched. "You don't know that. I killed people. Not just soldiers and Peacekeepers. I mean innocent people. Children." The image of Prim came unbidden. That he could handle. Prim's death still haunted him, but he'd learned how to deal with the memory of her, painful as it was.

Then another image came and caught him off guard. Two blonde girls, laughing together over something in a newspaper. It was a memory from 12, from a Sunday training session before the Quell. Prim. And Madge.

Suddenly he couldn't look at her. His throat constricted so he couldn't breathe and his heart raced. Guilt and fear clutched at him. Katniss and Prim had been Madge's friends, and it was his fault that Prim was dead and Katniss was broken. He remembered arguing with Prim in 12 as she defended Madge's friendship with Katniss from his jealousy. He could see Prim, every sweet innocent detail of her. His breathing grew shallow and fast, trying to keep up with the heartbeat that pounded loudly in his ears, like the sound of bombs. His gut twisted, guilt and fear merging into panic. The room felt small and claustrophobic, tightening around him as if to strangle him.

"Gale. It's okay -" Distantly he heard her voice but the words didn't make sense to him.

"_It's not okay_!" He wanted to scream, to cry, to yell at her. _I killed Prim_, he thought. The words echoed to the beat of his shaky breath. He had to escape. _Get out, Get out_, he told himself, drowning out the thoughts of Prim and Madge. He somehow propelled himself away from her, bolting out the glass-paned door and into the woods surrounding the cabin. The cold air did nothing to slow him down as the panic pushed him forward. Down the hill and away from the cabin he moved, until he crumpled onto the dead and dried leaves covering the forest floor.

The fears were too great to suppress. They rose up like a wave and leveled him. He had callously killed those people in the Nut. He'd designed bombs that had killed innocent children. He'd failed. He could never right those wrongs. He was worth less than nothing. He could never deserve forgiveness, not from Katniss, not from Madge, not from anyone. He had chased hopelessly after revenge for his father's death, for years of tesserae and reapings. He had chased it until it destroyed him. Instead of taking care of his family he had abandoned them. If the earth beneath him served out justice it would open up and swallow him whole and he would be lost in the dark forever like his father. He'd failed. Madge would hate him when she learned the truth.

Gradually he regained enough control to slow his breathing, counting as he sucked the air into his chest and expelled it again. _One, two three. In. One, two, three. Out_. Focusing on the numbers, his mind began to unknot and his body followed. He didn't know how long he'd been there, how long it had taken to recover from the attack. He felt the anxiety well up in him again as he thought of Madge. Deep breaths. The storm inside him slowly dispersed.

He sat on a log, the trunk of a pine tree that had fallen in a storm last winter. Had he yelled at her? He shouldn't have yelled. He shouldn't have left, but he hadn't had a choice. It seemed strange, knowing exactly what had caused the panic attack. Usually the triggers were subtle and hard to identify, but this time it was obvious. The memory of Madge and Prim together at Katniss' home in the Victor's Village - they could have been sisters, with their blonde hair and blue eyes. They were friends. He should have told her before now. How could he tell her?

When he returned to the house, Madge was waiting in the kitchen, leaning against the counter by the stove. He saw her through the window for an instant before he opened the door, her brow was furrowed and she held a large mug in her hands. He was suddenly thankful for her Capitol makeover, the dyed hair and violet eyes that made her look less like her old self and less like Prim. When he walked in, the smell of coffee filled the warm dry air enveloping him. She looked up and her eyes drifted shut for a moment as her forehead smoothed, then creased again. She bit her lip and watched him.

"Are you okay?" she asked. She poured coffee into another mug and handed it to him, then led him to one end of the long dinner table. He was surprised by how calm she was about it.

The anxiety never truly went away, but usually he could manage it, sometimes even forget it. He sat on the bench and swallowed a mouthful of the hot coffee as she claimed a portion of bench next to him. Feeling worn, he nodded. "I am now. It was a panic attack." He felt he should probably explain more, but he didn't really want to talk about it.

Her manner was matter-of-fact as she asked, "How frequent are they?"

"Not very, anymore. One or two a year usually. This is the second in ... eight weeks."

She rested her palm on his hand, weaving her fingers between his. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He felt her warmth melting into him, his hands still cold from outside. He had to tell her about the war. He dreaded it. "Want to?" he asked. "No. Need to, yes. I assume you've heard the publically approved Gale Hawthorne story? You should know it's missing a few chapters."

"I don't care about that," she protested.

"I should have told you sooner. During the war," the truth tumbled out of him, "I did terrible things. I was so angry. I thought we were the good guys, they were the bad guys, and anything we did was justified. I thought they deserved anything - everything - we could throw at them. I didn't see Coin for who she really was until it was too late."

"When we joined the rebels in District 13, I finally had an outlet for all my anger and hatred for the Capitol. People listened to me. I thought I was something special. I thought I was going to help win us the war. And it blinded me. The only things that mattered to me were Katniss and Snow, but we went too far. I went too far. The things I did are unforgivable."

Madge interrupted him, asking, "Hey. Easy. What are you talking about?"

"There's so much," he answered. "But the worst was the bomb that killed all those children in the Capitol and the rebel medics? Prim? It was my bomb. My design." He looked at the wall as tears slid down his cheeks.

"But that was Snow's bomb. That wasn't the rebels," Madge argued confused.

Paylor's administration had never investigated it. The powers that be had felt that any war crimes on the side of the rebels were better off forgotten. Pointedly Gale asked, "Why do you think Katniss killed Coin? You saw what Snow did to her, why do you think she would kill Coin instead of Snow when she had the chance?"

"I - I don't know. But it doesn't mean -" Madge stuttered.

Gale explained bitterly, "Killing Snow was the one thing she had been waiting for, it was her one goal from the beginning of the war. She killed Coin for Prim. She killed Coin because nobody but Coin would have ordered that attack. And it was my bomb."

Madge was silent as her thumb drew slow circles on the back of his hand. Then she asked, "Is that true?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I know Katniss believed it. It's why she killed Coin. And it could be true. I'll never know. We designed that kind of bomb. And that's bad enough. It doesn't matter if it's true or not."

One hand still interlocked with his, Madge lifted her other hand to his cheek, gently pulling his head to her shoulder. He leaned his head into the crook of her neck and stayed there accepting her comfort, his tears wetting her skin, for several breaths. With a sigh he said, "Dealing with ethics, it's what I do every day. So that no one else will have to learn the hard way. So they won't have to live with those decisions."

Then he lifted his head to meet her sad, somber gaze. A wet trail glistened on her cheek. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

She shook her head, tears still in her eyes. "Thank you for telling me," she murmured.

She hadn't gotten angry, or yelled, or run out. But he was sure she would want nothing to do with him now. "You don't have to stay tonight. I'll pay for a hotel," he told her.

She pulled away and looked at him. "Gale," she said sternly.

"What? I just mean -"

"I'm not leaving," she answered. "I know you wouldn't have targeted those children."

He responded without thinking. "Of course not but that doesn't mean -"

She cupped her hand over his mouth. "Don't," she said and he stopped talking. She was biting her lip, staring into his eyes as if in search of something, but he didn't know what. Then she pushed his hair back from his face and hugged him, pressing her cheek to his. They sat like that for what felt like a long time, their coffee mugs cooling on the table.

Eventually the sharpness of his guilt faded. Gale decided to go get cleaned up, if only to give them both some alone time to deal with everything that had happened. Once in the shower, he just stood in the spray of hot water and let it stream down his skin. Though he no longer felt cold from being outside, soaking in the heat of the water still refreshed him. Then he changed into comfortable sweatpants and a loosely fitted t-shirt, and let his towel-dried hair drip onto his shirt-collar. He didn't bother shaving the stubble from his face. When he went back out into the main room of the cabin, he found Madge had freshened up too - she still wore her jeans but had changed shirts and was now wearing a long-sleeved, scoop-necked green blouse.

"What do you think about dinner?" he asked her. "I'm getting hungry."

They worked together on the meal. Gale pan-fried venison steaks from a hunting trip earlier that fall, and Madge helped to roast the squash and toast some bread. After dinner Gale sent Madge to relax on the couch while he cleared the dishes. When he finished, he found her coaxing a fire to life in the fireplace.

He leaned against the wall and watched. "You don't have to do that," he told her.

"I know what I'm doing," she reminded him, not looking up at first. "Oh - I hope it's okay?" She added another good-sized log from the basket of wood he kept next to the fireplace.

"Of course, fine," he answered, walking over to stand beside her. The fire crackled and a lower log shifted under the weight of the new one. "I think you can let it be now."

She stood up and dusted her hands off on her jeans. Her loose hair tumbled over her shoulders and she brushed it back out of her face and looked at him with a smile. He suppressed a smile as he noticed the chalky gray streak her fingers had left across her forehead. He lifted a hand to brush it away. Then his eyes dropped to hers and he stopped, captivated. His hand caressed her cheek as he looked deeply into her eyes. He was searching for a sign of anger or judgment. He found none. He couldn't believe she was still here with him. The moment stretched out with only the sound of the fire grounding him to their surroundings. Then he felt her hands at his waist, pulling him to her. Without another thought he bent his lips down to her upturned mouth. Unlike so many of their past kisses, there was nothing tentative or gentle to their movements now. Her kiss was urgent, demanding something from him he could not define yet willingly gave. Soon their mouths molded against each other with abandon. He slid his fingers into her hair, holding her almost desperately. He longed for her in a way that seemed impossible to satisfy. Greedily his hands moved through her hair and across her neck, then down onto her shoulders, her arms and back. Any distance between them was too far for him. When her lips left his and she backed away, his entire bring protested her absence.

Taking her hand he pulled her with him to the couch. They kissed again and a sweet ache filled him. She matched his eagerness, her chest heaving as she drew a breath. He traced his fingers up her arms and sighed as she moved her lips across the short stubble on his jaw.

He trailed kisses along the curve of her neck and shoulder, his eyes drifting shut with each kiss and then flickering open again. His fingers found the bottom edge of her blouse and slipped underneath to gently lay claim to more of her. Along her side, he felt the uneven scars that marred her soft skin. Though his fingers barely skimmed over them, he felt her hesitation at his touch. Lightly so as not to cause her pain, he drew his hands back to the edge of her blouse. The fabric of her blouse bunched in his hands and she made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat. Unsure what she wanted he pulled back just enough to see her face. His fingers teased her waist and he lifted an eyebrow, requesting permission. She smiled at him invitingly in assent, her teeth raking against her lower lip in anticipation. _That lip again_, he thought. She was wholly bewitching.

Slowly he drew his hands up along her sides, pulling the blouse up over a cream colored bra. He saw each angry scar, standing out against her smooth skin as proof of her bravery. She was so beautiful and strong, so enticing he couldn't believe it. She raised her arms and took the bunched fabric in her hands, pulling it over her head. He kissed below the hollow of her throat and down her chest, inhaling her sweet scent as his stubble scratched lightly against her skin. She shivered against him and he almost lost himself. Then he lifted his head and she drew him into another hungry kiss. He wanted to lift her up and carry her to his bed, to find the full range of her tenderness and passion, what kindled her inner flame and brought her to the edge of ecstasy. It would be easy to pretend they were ready for that, but he knew they weren't.

As the warm glow from the fireplace gradually burned out, their frenzy faded but the passion remained. They kissed and caressed each other, as if trying to fulfill some deep thirst. At some point Madge's fingers slipped under the hem of his shirt, sliding along his hot skin and pushing the shirt up his chest. Leaning his head back against the couch Gale let out a slow breath, lost in the feeling of her hands on his skin as she traced up his ribcage. He pulled the shirt over his head, tossing it aside. He smirked as he saw her eyes wander appreciatively across his torso, her face still flushed from their fervent kisses. Then she frowned, running her thumb over the scar on his shoulder, from where he was shot.

"It doesn't hurt?" she asked.

"No," he said without a pause.

She sat back pensively.

He asked her, "What is it?"

"Is your back ... Is it scarred too? It doesn't hurt?"

He knew she was referring to the whipping. She seemed almost afraid of what he might say. Afraid of this, of all things, he didn't understand it. He had known she knew about it - she'd mentioned it before, once. _Had she seen it happen?_ He wondered. "There are scars," he told her. "but they don't hurt - not much anyway."

Gale turned purposefully. The scars weren't bad. Narrow pink ridges crisscrossed the center of his back. He felt her run her hand, as light as air, along the ridges that Thread's whip had marked him with. _Maybe that's the connection_, he thought. _The man who took her from her family_. Gale's whipping had been many people's informal introduction to their new Head Peacekeeper Thread, who had just arrived in District 12 when Gale had turned up with that turkey.

He couldn't see her face to read her reaction. Her touch was gentle, finger tips barely skimming the surface of his scarred skin. Then he felt her warm breath on his neck and her lips pressed against the ridge crossing his shoulder blade. It was such an intimate gesture, any thought of Thread vanished from his mind. His pulse quickened. Once again he was only too aware of her body radiating heat, of his own attraction and his empty inviting bedroom just down the hall.

He felt her ragged breath prickle his neck. "Madge," he moaned.

Then she pressed against his back, her arms wrapped around him and her hair tickling across his neck. Unlike his reaction, there was nothing sexual about her embrace.

"Madge?" he asked.

She loosened her grip on him and sniffed. "Sorry. I - I don't know what's wrong with me."

He turned and saw the smudge of tears across her face. "Hey, it's okay." Confused, he tried to comfort her. _What had upset her?_ Maybe she sensed where his thoughts had gone - it was too fast. Maybe she didn't want him after all. Or was this a delayed reaction to his earlier admission?

Then she surprised him again, laughing sadly. "I'm fine. I'm just - happy you're okay," she added.

"We can thank Purnia for that," he teased. The whipping had been brutal, but it was strange that something so small compared to all of Snow's evils would affect her after so much time had passed. It was probably just the emotional toll of the day - all the talk of the past had raised unwelcome memories for both of them. On a hunch he asked, "You saw it?"

She bit her lip and nodded.

She hadn't lived in the Seam, he reminded himself. As a child she had been protected from what life in the districts sometimes meant. He didn't resent it. On the contrary, he was relieved, just as he was grateful that his own siblings had been given the chance for a fresh start in 13. He thought again about Thread, who had brutalized District 12 in its final months. His arrival - marked by the whipping - could have been a turning point for Madge.

He kissed her brow. "Thread is gone," he said quietly. "What he did ... all of that is gone now."

She gave him a funny look, then shook her head. "Thread was just another of Snow's lackeys. Brutal, but no worse than most. I really am fine," she told him.

"Okay," he agreed, though he was puzzled by her dismissive response.

She squirmed closer to him, nuzzling into his bare chest. She relaxed into him; one hand rested against his chest, the other absently nestled into his hair at the back of his neck. "Actually," she breathed sleepily, "This is better than fine."

"Mmm," he hummed his agreement. He thought he was content to lay there with her, but after a few minutes he found himself admiring the curve of her neck and shoulder, interrupted only by the line where her bra strap crossed over her shoulder. Unable to resist, he kissed her shoulder. Then running a finger up along the strap, he pushed it off her shoulder and kissed her skin where it had laid.

"Hey," she protested. He could tell she wasn't really upset, because there was a little laugh in her voice.

"What?" he asked, teasing his lips along her neck. "I can't help it. You're irresistible."

She shook her head lightly, shifting onto her elbow so that the bra strap hung tantalizingly across her arm. "You're insatiable. What time is it?" she asked.

"I don't know," Gale answered, "but ... we probably should get _some_ sleep tonight?" He wondered what it would be like sleeping with Madge in his bed. He hoped she would stay with him tonight instead of using the guest room. He didn't want this to end. He didn't want this ever to end.

"Maybe," she smiled. "You're not gonna make me go all the way upstairs are you? I'd say we should just stay here but ... I think I'd fall off the couch the minute I fell asleep."

Gale was glad she didn't want to their night to end either. He pinned her with his gray eyes. In a low seductive voice he asked, "Are you asking to share my bed, Madge Undersee?"

She flushed and rolled her eyes. "Just to sleep!" she muttered.

He agreed, of course. He picked up their shirts from the floor and followed her back to the bedroom, stopping her along the way for a few light kisses.

"Do you want your shirt?" he asked her.

"No - can I use yours though?" she asked him. He looked at her questioningly. She rolled her eyes embarrassed. "My pajamas are upstairs."

His mouth twisted into a smile thinking of the possibilities. He decided to go easy on her though. "Sure," he said, tossing her the shirt he'd worn earlier before climbing into his side of the bed. She pulled the shirt on over her head. It reached down to her thighs. Modestly she slid her jeans and bra off from underneath, setting them neatly aside before climbing into bed and settling herself next to him under the blanket with a small shiver. Gale tried not to think too much about how little she was wearing underneath his shirt. Then he turned out the lights and, laying alongside her, wrapped his arm across her waist.

"Goodnight," she whispered.


	13. Sunday: Time Together

**A/N: Thanks to all of you for your support, especially for the reviews and for the recs on tumblr. Thanks to Belle453 for her beta, keeping me on track. And welcome, Voltaire, to the world of Gadge. ;-)**

* * *

Gale woke to the early morning light streaming in through the window. Even on the occasional weekend day when he wanted to sleep in, he usually found himself awake bright and early. So far he was only half-awake and his arm felt stiff. When he tried to stretch it he was met with resistance. Turning his neck he discovered the arm was pinned underneath Madge's neck. She was curled on her side, facing away from him, but just seeing her there, her hair falling across the pillow and his arm, made him feel a confused rush of emotion. So much had happened yesterday. He never expected to sleep so soundly, but he'd been drained to the point of exhaustion from it all. He couldn't even remember saying goodnight to her.

Pins and needles shot up his arm as he wiggled his hand. He needed to extract his arm without waking her. Then he could close those curtains so it would stay dark and she could sleep in. Because of the angle he couldn't really bend his arm so he slowly shifted his body back, sliding it out from under her. Once it was free, he stretched it this way and that to ease the ache and get the blood flowing again.

Quietly he snuck out of bed and over to the window, slowly pulling the curtains closed. As he started to creep back across the room a sleepy voice said, "Does that mean I can sleep in?"

Gale smiled. "Yes - go back to sleep. I didn't mean to wake you," he said. He had planned to get up, but since she was awake he slid back to his side of the bed and laid down again.

"You didn't. Wake me, I mean." Sleepily she rolled toward him and added, "or maybe you did. I don't remember." She leaned across the bed to kiss him. He twisted his hand into her hair and pressed his mouth to hers greedily. She returned the kiss but more slowly, and he could tell she wasn't fully awake. He turned his head and as he kissed her jaw her eyes drifted shut.

He drew his hand from her hair and she slid back to rest her head on the pillow. "How'd you sleep?" she asked.

"Like a log," he admitted. He propped his head up on his hand and leaned over her, elbow on the bed. His eyes drifted over her bright face and unkempt hair. "What about you?"

"Pretty good," she commented. Then her smile widened and she said, "thanks to this new nightgown of mine."

"You like it?" he asked, grinning. He dropped his lips to hers for a kiss. Teasing he added, "it's the latest district 2 fashion."

She laughed. "In that case I think district 2 needs some fashion help, but it gets full marks for comfort," she said.

"Hey! I think it's very fashionable," he countered. She rolled her eyes and shook her head at him. Then she reached up and pulled him back down to her for another kiss, her lips moving softly against his. He supported his weight on one hand while the other slid along her arm and under her back. Her back arched slightly as she pressed into him. His hand moved down her back to where it unexpectedly touched her skin. Her 'nightgown' had ridden up and the fabric bunched at her waist.

"Ugh," he groaned with want, and she smiled against his mouth. He gripped the fabric in his hand tightly. She was so enticing ... too enticing. He had to restrain himself. He slid his hand out from under her, forcing himself to lighten his kisses. If he kept kissing her he'd just be tempted to push things further, too far. After a final, sweet kiss, he leaned away. She smiled up at him lazily, sexily.

_No_, he told himself. He should give her space. "Sleep. I'm going to go put on some coffee," he told her.

"Okay," she sighed contentedly, nestling into the pillow. Standing next to the bed he leaned over to kiss her forehead once more before heading out to the kitchen.

* * *

When Madge woke later, a halo of sunlight shone around the edges of the curtain. Instantly she smiled remembering Gale's kisses when he'd closed the curtain. She stretched her arms above her head, wondering what time it was as she reluctantly left the cozy warmth of the bed. After showering and getting dressed, she found a pot of hot coffee waiting in the kitchen. Gale wasn't around. She was halfway through her first cup, staring out the window, when he cleared his throat behind her and she practically jumped out of her skin in surprise.

"Morning," he said sounding amused.

She turned and found his slate gray eyes. She'd always thought of them as stormy but they seemed clear now. She glared up at him. "You didn't have to sneak up on me! I almost spilled my coffee," she grumbled.

"Sorry," he said, his eyes dancing. "Couldn't help it."

She relented and reached up for a kiss, sliding her hand along his smoothly shaven jaw.

She watched him fix scrambled eggs for breakfast. As he set a plate in front of her she teased him, "What, no strawberries?"

Suppressing a smile he told her, "they're out of season. Guess my debt will have to wait." He settled onto the bench across from her with a plate of his own, sprinkling hot sauce across his eggs.

The idea of debts between them made her uneasy. She knew he wasn't really serious about the strawberries, but she still thought he saw a kernel of truth in it. It was why she couldn't tell him about the morphling. It would just complicate things ... and things were complicated enough as it was. She couldn't help but think of their childhood in 12 when she was around him - it was what connected them. She shook her head, swallowing a mouthful of eggs and saying, "you know we were paying for strawberries long before you came along, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. You were helping Katniss," he agreed. It was funny, she thought, how he could talk about their old friend so plainly, as if she was something separate from all their baggage from the war. He'd done it before, talking about her archery style. As if Katniss was not a person, living and breathing in District 12, but just a series of facts from their past.

"Way longer than that," she told him. "You think the mayor would buy illegal strawberries from just anyone?"

Gale's eyebrows gathered low over his eyes as he looked up from his plate, and she hesitated. His father had died at the same time as Katniss', she knew that.

"We used to buy from her father," she explained. "It was my mom that started it - she and Katniss' mom had been friends before they got married. She was always looking for ways to help the Everdeens, back when she was healthy enough. She started it."

Gale studied her for a minute, and then blinked. "No wonder she took you to the woods. I didn't realize how far back you two went." He meant Katniss.

Madge snorted. "That's not why she took me to the woods. It's not like we had playdates growing up or anything."

"But she taught you how to shoot," Gale answered. He was right; he'd figured that out from watching her. Katniss had taught her how to use a bow, but she didn't need food and when the time came to fight Madge had already been taken prisoner.

"Yeah, little good it did me," she muttered bitterly. She stared at her plate, forcing another bite of eggs from her almost empty plate. She could feel more than see his eyes on her and shrank away from his gaze.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded. She flinched at the edge in his voice.

"Look," she said. "I know you have regrets. We all do. But at least you got to fight. I didn't get the chance."

She heard a creak as he pushed the bench back and stood up. She hadn't meant to make him angry. She felt a little knot of regret for bringing it up - after everything he'd told her she could guess he didn't appreciate having fought in the war. She still didn't want to look at him.

Then he stepped over the bench next to her and lowered himself to sit facing her. His hand slid over her hair and across her back, exuding heat. "Hey." His voice was gentle.

Intellectually she knew it wasn't her fault, just as she knew now that Gale carried his own unnecessary guilt. But knowing was very different from accepting, and she couldn't reason with her own emotions. She tried to explain. "You and Kat, you never let Snow stop you. Not even in 12. But all I ever was, was a victim. That's why I joined the survival group. It's how I've kept going since the war. I just didn't want to be a victim of circumstance anymore."

"You're not," Gale said. He sounded astonished. He pushed her hair back from her face as he told her, "Look at you. You've recreated yourself. You're not in school for nothing - Carlos told me you're at the top of your class. You're deadly with a bow. And I may not understand you, but if I were stuck in the woods, hell if I were stuck in an arena, there's nobody I'd trust more. That probably sounds crazy to you, but it's true."

She leaned into his hand. He did sound crazy, but he also sounded sincere. Then he took her hand and stood up, pulling her with him. "I want you to see something," he told her.

She followed him to the door to his office, where they both stood uncertainly. She could guess what he had in mind. "You don't have to do this," she told him. She could guess from the panic attack that he'd invested a lot of meaning into the things in his office, and she wasn't sure she wanted to stir things up again.

"Yes I do," he answered. He ushered her into the office, flipping on the lights. He lagged behind as she walked across the room. She walked over to the shelf, running her hand along it as if afraid to touch the objects.

"Will you tell me what they are?" she asked.

"The one on the left," he said deliberately, "is the remnants of one of the bombs, from President Snow's mansion. My design." He tried to keep his voice steady but it still shook. "The one in the middle -" he paused to take a breath, "is from the old Nut here in District 2. I argued for the assault that buried it."

She looked between them, knowing how heavily they weighed on his mind. The piece of the Nut just looked like a jagged rock to her, but the old bomb was a twisted chunk of rounded metal. She picked up the bomb, which was cold and smooth in her hand, lighter than she expected. It had been cracked, leaving a sharp edge almost like a razor blade. It was just metal to her, but the memories it contained obviously haunted him. She set it back onto the shelf, then picked up the piece of the Nut. It was dense and heavy in her hand, a chunk of charred rock. Then she moved to the third item. She wrapped her fingers around the smooth gray stone, which reminded her of Gale's eyes. She could feel it warming in her hand. "And this one?" she asked.

In a calmer voice he said, "a rock, from the stream outside district 12, part of the old hunting grounds."

"I remember it," she said, picturing the stream in her mind. She turned the stone over in her hand and told him, "The second time I went into the woods, Katniss showed me your snare line. You always cared for your family, even with everything stacked against you. I remember how much I wanted to be able to fend for myself like you and Kat did."

"Yeah, well," Gale said, then went silent. After a minute he continued, "now you can." She was sure he was holding something back, but digging through their past wasn't easy on either of them.

She turned to him and placed the rock in his hand. His fingers curled around it. "You can't keep blaming yourself for it all," she said quietly. "You have to forgive yourself."

Somber, Gale placed the rock gently back on the shelf. He turned, took her hands in his and lowered his forehead to rest against hers. Then he said, "I'm trying. But you have to too. I don't want to dwell on this stuff today - but I don't want you beating yourself up about things that aren't your fault."

* * *

Madge suggested they take a walk so they donned their coats and tromped out into the woods together. Well, Madge tromped, not worried about whatever wildlife might be around. Gale's movements were far quieter. It was late morning and the sun shone brightly overhead through the pine trees. Gale seemed to know the woods around his home well, and she followed him without too much attention to their path. At the sight of geese flying overhead in a V formation, she teased him about not having his bow with him.

Gale shrugged. "It's deer season, and one deer provides so much meat that I wind up giving it away.''

The flock of geese disappeared behind the trees. "Do you get tired of it? The goose would make a nice change of pace," she countered.

"Then I guess it's too bad we didn't bring our gear," he humored her.

"Well we should go hunting sometime," she said, sliding her hand into his. She envisioned a hunting trip, just the two of them. Or maybe Vick would come. Or her friends.

"That'll be something to see," he laughed. "Madge Undersee bringing down big game."

She'd told him he could call her Madge, but she wondered if that had been a good idea. Maybe she was creating more trouble for herself, considering he'd already been slipping up around her friends. She liked hearing her name again, especially from him, but she was worried she couldn't have it both ways. "I think you mean Runa," she answered.

He turned and tugged her toward him so they faced each other. "Not as long as it's just you and me here. Or maybe you were planning an expedition with your friends." He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well maybe not," she said. It was a sore point for him. She didn't know how to reconcile her relationships with her friends and what she wanted with Gale. He didn't answer. Probably he was thinking about the same thing - trying to get her to give up being Runa. She bit her lip, thinking that she couldn't do that to Purnia.

He lifted a hand to her face and brushed his thumb across her lip, so she stopped biting it and gave a weak smile. After a few minutes he said, "I know you're set on being Runa, and I'm not going to push you to change that right now. But I still really think you should tell your friends. I'd think so anyway, but for me ... I don't think I can pull it off like you do. I'm going to slip up. I already have! But I'm afraid I'll say something wrong and either they'll figure it out on their own or you'll get so mad at me that you leave and I don't want either of those to happen."

She sighed. "I don't either."

"I still don't know how you do it," he told her. "Become an entirely new person."

"It's not that hard. I was practically raised for it."

"How's that?"

Of course Gale didn't know what growing up in the Mayor's house had been like. "Because when you're the Mayor's daughter, you don't get to be yourself. You have to fulfill the Capitol's expectations for - what did you call me? The district princess?"

"I didn't realize what a chore playing princess was," Gale commented dryly.

That pissed her off. "Gale! I know I had it way easier than most, but ... our lives in 12 were different. I wasn't struggling to get by like you were. But you try playing hostess to the ridiculous visitors from the Capitol. I was expected to set an example. I had to smile and smile and pretend to agree with whatever demeaning things they said and support whatever crazy ideas were circulating in the Capitol. When the Capitol sent visitors, they lived in our house. Every year, the reporters for the games, the Victors on their tour, on and on. With my mom's condition, I was the one at my father's side. Sure, I knew what was going on in District 12, and pieces of what was happening in the rest of Panem. My father didn't believe in keeping me entirely in the dark. He knew he wouldn't be able to protect me forever. So I knew how terrible Snow was, but I couldn't do anything about it, any more than anyone else. So if nothing else, I learned how to hide my true feelings."

"Sorry," Gale muttered.

"We should probably turn back," she said, turning to walk back up the hill.

Gale followed her, and after several minutes he laughed and said, "so I'll never know if you're lying to me?"

"I guess you'll just have to trust me," she answered.

"I don't get you at all."

"What do you mean?"

"You get upset so easily about some things, and then something as big as - as what I told you yesterday, and you don't even flinch."

Madge thought about his panic attack. She was glad, yesterday, that she'd seen panic attacks before. That she'd learned to recognize and deal with them.

Gale wasn't done. "You got so upset over my scars - I figured you associated my whipping with Thread's arrival. But then you acted as if Thread was no big deal. But he took you from your parents. I don't get it."

Madge shook her head. "There were peacekeepers like Thread all over Panem. My father had done everything he could to keep District 12 off Snow's radar, and relax the unnecessary punishments. That's why he kept Cray around - Cray was lax compared to Head Peacekeepers in other districts. I'm sure you knew about Cray's unsavory activities - Father could have had him censured, but sometimes the devil you know is better than the one you don't. But that didn't make Thread's actions any more acceptable."

Together they wandered slowly back toward the house despite the chilly air seeping through their coats. Once inside, Gale moved to kiss her but when he touched his fingers to her neck she shrieked from the cold. So he acquiesced when Madge fixed two mugs of hot cocoa, and they sat at the table sipping from them as he peppered her with kisses. Gale ran his hand up the side of her thigh as he told her about Vick going home to District 13, and his own thoughts about a trip. She kept her hands wrapped around her mug, warming them. When the cocoa was gone, she shifted her hands to Gale - sliding across his shirt and holding him to her.

They spent most of the afternoon there, kissing and holding each other. When Gale's stomach started to grumble Madge laughed and insisted they make sandwiches. Then they played cards, talking and joking and occasionally stealing kisses. Before they knew it, it was time to get Madge to her train home. It was a quiet ride to the station, each of them lost in their own thoughts. As Gale pulled into the parking lot at the station, Madge found herself again reluctant to allow their time together to end. So much had happened and yet it had gone by so quickly. She hated having to go back home.

Gale pulled her bag from the back of the hummer and walked it around to her. "Message me when you get home," Gale told her, and she said she would. Then she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him one more time, her hands pressed against his chest. His arm snaked around her waist and held her to him. Then she dropped back onto her heels and said, "See you soon."

"Bye," he replied. Halfway to the station doors she turned back to see him standing by the hummer, and he lifted his hand in a wave. She smiled back at him, then turned and went to catch her train.

* * *

Rose was waiting at the train station when Madge arrived back in the Capitol. "How was it?" she asked.

Madge bit her lip. "Good. _Really_ good."

"I figured, since you caught the late train. So he's gotten over his prejudices?"

Madge wasn't sure how to answer - she wanted her friends to get to know Gale. "Umm, yes? Rose ... there's something I want to tell you, but ... I'm really worried about what you'll think of me."

Rose gasped, "You slept with him!"

"What? No! We are _so_ not ready for that. It's not ... it's not about him. Well it is, but not like that." She felt flustered by her friends' assumption, and was still deciding what she should say.

"Come on, dish. You can tell me."

Madge admitted, "I lied to you about him. I'm really sorry. I didn't know what else to do."

"You mean all that nonsense about not caring about him? We all knew you liked each other. I mean, not immediately, but on that second visit, we knew," Rose said amiably.

"It's not that. It's ... I didn't just meet Gale on the camping trip. We'd met before. So he wasn't acting weird because I'm from the Capitol."

Rose looked at her puzzled. "You met him before? But he didn't act like he knew you at all."

Madge sighed and explained, "he wasn't sure it was me."

"Wait, what? Why wouldn't he know?"

She hedged, "It's a long story and I'm ... not ready to tell you yet. But you shouldn't blame him, okay?"

Rose paused, watching her friend, before answering. "Okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But anytime you want to talk, you know you can talk to me." With a smile she added, "Day or night."

"Thanks Rose. And ... don't tell the guys, okay?"

"Okay. But if Spinner ever finds out I knew and didn't tell him, you're gonna owe me."

* * *

On Wednesday, Madge had her last final exam. Since she didn't know her grades yet, she couldn't relax. That night she talked to Gale by video.

On Thursday, she was supposed to celebrate the end of the semester with her friends. Rose and Spinner both had their last finals, and everyone was coming to her place. She told Spinner and Carlos it was to celebrate Rose's birthday, which was coming up during their break. So she baked a chocolate cake and stocked her small fridge with a few beers.

Carlos, Rose, and Spinner arrived soon after. They ate cake and drank and talked about their finals. Rose and Spinner were going back home to District 4 during the break, and for not the first time Rose asked Madge, "are you sure you don't want to come with us? Or are you going back to District 2?"

Madge flushed. She hadn't told her friends her plans yet. "Actually I'm uhh ... going to see what District 13 is like. Just for a few days."

They all looked at her curiously. "13?" Spinner asked.

Madge could feel the heat in her cheeks. "Gale's family lives there," she muttered.

"You're going to meet his family? Wow that's serious," Rose said, grinning.

"Yeah, I guess. Maybe it is. But I'm not going to meet them, Rose. I'm going to see them. I already met them a long time ago." She took a deep breath. "I'm not doing this right. I had this whole speech ... I wanted to thank you guys, because you've been such great friends to me ..."

"Wait, you're not leaving us are you?" joked Spinner.

Madge breathed a small laugh. "No, I'm not leaving you. But I don't know how you're going to feel once you hear this."

Rose watched expectantly, waiting for her to continue. Spinner looked confused, and Carlos' forehead creased when she glanced toward him. Madge took a deep breath. "I've never told anyone this - well, until Gale. Okay, here goes. I'm not really from the Capitol. I'm from District 12. I knew Gale before the war. And his family."

Madge's eyes flickered between her friends' faces. Rose and Spinner looked stunned. Carlos' lips were pressed into a thin line, but he was nodding at her words.

In a quiet voice she admitted, "My name wasn't always Runa. It used to be Madge Undersee." Then she told them, about being brought to the Capitol before the bombing with Purnia, about Purnia rescuing her from the Capitol prison, and how she'd become Runa after the war.

"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you guys. I really am Runa ... that's not going to change. But I'm Madge too, and even if the rest of the world only knows about Runa I wanted you all to know the whole story."

"No you didn't," argued Spinner. "You've been lying to us this whole time - for years. You tell us this now? What, because your old boyfriend turns up? You probably just realized we'd eventually figure it out for ourselves if he was around! How could you not tell us?"

"Spinner, no - " Madge began.

"Forget it, I'm out of here. Come on Rose." Spinner stalked angrily out of Madge's apartment, leaving the door gaping open behind him.

Rose looked from the door to Madge. "I'm sorry, Runa. It's just ... it's a lot to take in ...," she said as she looked back to the open door where Spinner had disappeared.


	14. Friday: Family

**A/N: Sorry this update took awhile - hopefully the next will be faster! Thanks to everyone still reading, especially those of you who have reviewed. Thanks Belle453 for helping me with this & beta-ing!**

* * *

Rose looked from the door to Madge. "I'm sorry, Runa. It's just ... it's a lot to take in ... "

Still reeling from Spinner's outburst, Madge's heart sank at the uncertainty she saw in her best friend. Rose continued, saying, "I'm here for you, I am, but -" cutting off again as she looked back to the door worriedly.

Madge sighed. "Just go."

Rose jumped to her feet and gave Madge a quick hug. "I'll .. I'll call you later. We can talk then," she said, and raced out the door after Spinner.

Tentatively Madge looked to Carlos, who was still leaning against the wall on the far side of the room, witness to Rose and Spinner's reactions. He had been quiet through everything and she was scared now how he would react. He had a small smile on his face but he didn't look happy. She watched him anxiously, trying to gauge his reaction as he walked over to her. Then he hugged her, and relieved she wrapped her arms around him. When he released her, he gave her a conspiratorial smile and said amiably, "Hi Madge. I'm Carlos."

She looked at him suspiciously. "How are you so okay? Did you know?" She asked him.

"Not everything," he shrugged. "Thanks for telling us the truth."

Perplexed, she was about to ask him how much he'd known, and how, but he spoke first. "I always knew there was more to you than met the eye." He winked. "Don't worry about Spinner. He'll come around with time. Rose will win him over."

"I don't know, she looked a little freaked out herself," Madge worried aloud.

"No, she trusts you. You'll see - it might take her some time to adjust but she's on your side."

"I hope so," Madge sighed. Carlos had known Spinner and Rose far longer than she had, so maybe she could try to trust that he was right. But the thought of losing her friends still weighed on her. At least she had Carlos' support.

Carlos pulled another beer from the fridge, offered it to Madge then took another for himself. Sitting down at the table he asked, "So – District 13, huh? When do you leave?"

"Saturday, I think … that's really why I had to tell you all today. Spinner's not wrong really … until Gale came along I never thought I would tell anyone. I thought the past was buried, but - I can't make him lie to his own family."

"No, guess not," Carlos said with a wry smile. He laughed and she smiled too.

"Besides … I don't want to have to pretend not to know them, either. And I couldn't go there and be Madge again without you all knowing. You're like my family. I just never thought anything like this would happen," she said.

"Love makes us do crazy things," Carlos said lightly, using the word so casually that it didn't even occur to Madge to object before he added more seriously, "hey, you did what you thought was best. Don't beat yourself up. Runa – I mean Madge. Sorry, that's gonna take getting used to. Just … have fun this weekend. Maybe being Madge again will do you some good."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I know it's painful, but … it's like you said. You're Runa, but you're also Madge. The past is still a part of you. Denying it for so long had to be hard. Maybe this isn't a problem, maybe it's an opportunity."

"But Purnia …" Madge began.

Carlos shook his head and took another swig of his beer. "Are you kidding? Didn't you tell us before that Purnia invited your General to dinner? She's not dumb. She would've known what it could mean."

"Would you stop calling him that? His name is Gale," she muttered.

"Oh come on," Carlos said. "I'm just teasing. He's kind of a big deal you know."

"You're not just being understanding because of that are you?" When she saw his look she laughed, "sorry I didn't mean that…"

"Better not! You know I'm just looking out for you right?" Carlos asked her. "We've talked. He's a good man. He likes you, you like him. Don't make it harder than it is."

Madge looked at her friend and sighed. "Thanks," she said with a small nod. Maybe he was right, but it sure felt like Gale had complicated every aspect of her life. Carlos though seemed to think it was all simple and easy. "So … how did you know … whatever you knew?"

"Like I said, I talked to him," Carlos said, twitching his eyebrows up for a second. "I saw how you put each other on edge – and not just romantically." Madge looked at him expectantly. Carlos clarified, "he didn't say anything – well not until that night at the pizza joint, I forget what he said then but it kinda confirmed what I already knew. Something that told me you two knew each other before the war. It made sense - but it wasn't all his fault. Though the Capitolite act was very convincing, I've wondered for awhile." He took another swig of beer. "Gale must be relieved. Shouldn't you be calling him or something?"

She blanched at the thought. "He doesn't know I told you all. I was scared that … well, I guess that this would happen. What am I supposed to tell him? That Spinner and Rose ran out?"

"They'll come around," Carlos insisted. "Trust me. Are you going to 13 together?"

"No, I'm meeting him there."

"Have you at least told him you don't expect him to lie to his family?"

"I will …"

"Yeah. Now." He picked up her phone from the table and held it out to her.

"But …" she wanted to argue but Carlos looked determined, waving the phone at her.

Carlos told her, "Look, Rose is on your side. Spinner will come around, but he's stubborn so he's gonna need some time. You were right to tell us –". Then he smiled teasingly at her and said, "and now you've gotta talk to _your General_. You don't want to keep things from him, do you?"

* * *

Friday.

Walking across the tarmac, Gale scanned the faces waiting inside the hoverport until he saw the pair of tall women waiting on the other side of the glass. He still couldn't believe how grown up Posy was; she looked more and more like Ma every time he saw her.

Hazelle wasn't as thin and gaunt as she had been in his childhood, now that there was enough food and they were not struggling to get by. Posy, though, had a teenage athlete's metabolism, and though she stood almost as tall as her mother she was skinny as a rail. Posy had spotted Gale among the crowds getting off the hoverplane and was waving frantically, so Gale waved back so she knew he'd seen them.

When he'd finally made it out through District 13's security, he made his way to the two women and Posy threw her arms around him, screeching, "Gale! You made it!" He laughed and returned her hug.

Then he turned to Hazelle and embraced her, saying quietly, "Hey Ma."

"I'm so glad you could come," she answered. "How are you? How was your trip?"

Gale answered with the expected assurances. His discomfort from the hoverplane had already dissipated with his feet safely back on the ground. He didn't answer the question about his love life he heard behind Hazelle's question. He didn't often tell her about women in his life, and he was planning on surprising her with Madge's visit.

He had debated telling her – asking her, really, although she'd already said Runa was welcome any time. He knew their new home above-ground in district 13 had the extra space. Gale had learned to schedule his visits for when Rory wouldn't be there, meaning there would be an extra guest room available for Madge.

He still couldn't really believe that Madge was actually coming … especially with the mixed reactions her friends in the Capitol had had when she'd told them about her past. He knew she had to be stressed about it, but she hadn't backed out of coming. Despite that Gale still worried that Madge would freak out and bail, decide to blame him for Spinner's anger and stay in the Capitol. If she didn't come, he didn't want to have to deal with the fallout over it. It was probably unfair of him to think that way. Maybe he just didn't want to face Hazelle's expectations and questions.

Luckily with Posy along Hazelle didn't ask him directly about Madge. From the front seat of Hazelle's minivan he pestered his sister with questions about school and activities and friends, twisting around from time to time to face her in the back seat. Posy filled their trip through District 13 with stories from her life. She was on a basketball team at her school, practicing before school started every morning. Hazelle told Gale jokingly, "she gets up almost as early as you did at her age!" Of course, at Posy's age he had been getting up early to check on snares and collect food from beyond the fence, illegally feeding their family rather than participating in a school-sponsored athletic group.

"How's Vick enjoying vacation? He didn't want to come meet me?" Gale asked jokingly.

Posy rolled her eyes and answered bluntly, "he was playing video games over the network. Good luck prying him out of VR." Gale had only used the Virtual Reality platform for some of their more intense training exercises, not for games –but he couldn't help knowing about the recent surge in Virtual Reality group games, which connected players across the districts for team-based games. Many of the games available were actually modeled after military exercises, or were based on the games, the rebellion, or other combat situations. It was a hotly debated topic among politicians in the Capitol – whether the games would help foster connections among the districts or simply encourage violence. To Gale the debate was just an annoying distraction from the real issues facing the young nation.

"I didn't know you had a V-R system," Gale commented to Hazelle.

"We didn't," she sighed. "One of Vick's classes next cycle uses it though. We got a mobile unit he can take back to the Capitol with him. If I didn't know better I'd say he took the class just to get the VR system, but it's a required class. They're really pushing the students to learn technology. Maybe I should have waited to get it though; I can barely pry him away."

"He hasn't even let me try it yet," Posy pouted.

Gale twisted his neck to look at his sister, slouching in the back seat of the car. "Well, we'll just have to insist he give us a turn when we get back," he told her with a wink.

As they approached the Hawthorne house, Gale glanced at his communicuff. He hadn't heard from Madge since the night before, and he had hoped to talk with her today. Hazelle must have noticed him checking, because as they walked up to the house she asked him quietly, "everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine," he assured her.

"Well if you have any calls to make, you might want to go ahead. You know how things get – once you're inside there won't be much chance for a break." He knew she was right – he'd be distracted by his siblings and family activities once he got settled.

"No, I'm fine," he told his Ma. He expected he could call Madge later tonight – he didn't want his Ma asking questions as soon as he was in the door.

As Gale walked into the house, Vick called out, "Hey Gale! Can't talk now. We're almost done with this level though."

Gale followed Posy to the kitchen where she pulled sugary colas from the fridge. "Ma got you some eepa beer if you want that," she said.

"Eepa?" Gale asked. She pulled out a bottle and showed it to him. I P A was on the label. "It's not a name Posy. I. P.A. It's just a type of beer."

"I don't know why you drink that. Beer tastes gross," Posy declared.

"How would you know?" Gale asked, then laughed as Posy's cheeks turned crimson. He took the bottle from her and twisted the lid off in his hand.

A few minutes later Vick showed up. "Hey!" He said to Gale, "how's the flight?" Vick took a cola from the fridge, scowling slightly at Gale's beer. Gale assumed Vick drank at college, but Hazelle would never allow it in her house until he was officially of age.

"What game were you playing?" Gale asked.

"It's called Zelda. You're on a quest to save the kingdom from these evil mutations that are taking over, and along the way you rescue people and win new skills and gear. It's really fun. Except I kept dying trying to fight this one pack of mutts, until Andrea helped.

"Andrea? From the wilderness camping trip?"

Vick grimaced. "Yeah ... Don't ask. She likes some guy in her English class. She won't shut up about him. But she's still part of the gang – I was playing with her and Seth."

"Sorry bro," Gale answered. "So you having fun being off school?"

Vick shrugged. "I guess … kinda miss it though. It's too quiet here. Whatever. Didn't hear much from you lately. I thought I might see more of you this fall with the wilderness group. What happened with you and Runa?" Vick asked.

Gale raised an eyebrow at his brother as he debated what to tell him in front of Posy. Tomorrow Gale planned to bring his girlfriend Madge home & expected Posy to find out then. It probably wasn't good, then, to talk about her as Runa now – but he also didn't want to explain the whole Madge thing right now. Just as he opened his mouth to answer, Hazelle came into the kitchen and said to Vick, "why don't you show Gale and Pose the new VR system? I'll let you all know when dinner's ready."

Posy piped up, asking their Ma, "you want any help?"

"No dear, I've got it," Hazelle replied. "You go relax with your brothers."

"Tell you later," Gale muttered to his brother, before Vick led him and Posy back to the room where his Virtual Reality system was set up.

"What do you want to play? There's a flight simulation I could load ..." Vick began innocently.

Vick knew Gale hated flying. Gale glowered at his brother, who grinned back. "What? Okay fine, there's an archery one too. You want to try it? Or ..." he rattled off a list of options for them.

Posy voted for a car racing game so Gale agreed. Apparently Hazelle had known the system would be used for gaming because she'd bought extra sets of the gloves that transmitted the players' movement back to the system. It was strange to Gale "driving" with no wheel, but the three of them raced virtual cars down empty streets. Each 'race course' in the game was modeled on a different district. Vick won most often, as Gale and Posy learned how to adapt their movements to the controls. Occasionally one of them would inadvertently get in Vick's way and he would start yelling at them, which made Posy crack up laughing. Then Posy started swerving across the road whenever Vick's car approached, trying to make him crash. Soon the racing part of the game was secondary to the siblings' antics.

Over dinner Gale tried to keep Posy and Vick talking, but Hazelle turned the conversation back on him. "So Gale, how's everything in 2? Have you been hunting much lately?"

He'd foregone a lot of the usual hunting trips to spend so many weekends with Madge. It hadn't bothered him though. "Not recently. The freezer's full as it is. I got in a little target practice with Vick though, last month," Gale answered.

Hazelle smiled, looking from Vick to Gale. "That's right. Vick's been telling us about this wilderness group he's joined at school. Maybe the two of you can practice some archery together while you're here."

"Can we?" Vick asked his brother eagerly. "The wilderness group only had a few practices. I bet I could jump way ahead if you helped me!"

Gale had wanted a good excuse to take Vick with him tomorrow, to explain about Madge before she arrived, since Vick still thought of her as Runa. This seemed perfect. "Yeah, Vick. That would be great. Maybe we can rustle up some gear tomorrow."

"Can I come too?" Posy asked excitedly.

Gale exchanged a glance with Hazelle, then shrugged agreement. "Yeah, well if Vick and I can get equipment then maybe we can practice here at the house. I could show you the basics. Why not?" Looking to Hazelle he added jokingly, "Watch out, Ma, or you'll wind up with an archery range instead of a yard."

After dinner, Gale goaded Vick into helping him clear the dishes. When they were alone in the kitchen Vick reminded him, "you never told me about Runa. What gives? First you tell me she's from 12, and after that archery practice I was sure you were gonna ask her out. Did she kick you to the curb? Is that why I barely heard from you after that?"

Gale answered defensively, "No! She didn't … look, it's been complicated, but we're seeing each other. Not that it's any of your business." He wasn't sure why he wasn't just telling Vick everything, except that he had planned on telling him when they were out, when Vick wouldn't have a chance to accidentally ruin the surprise of Madge's visit. And Vick's assumption that he'd asked her out and she said no annoyed him, even if it shouldn't have.

"Does Ma know?"

"Yes," Gale answered pointedly. "But do me a favor and don't bring it up tonight, okay? I'll explain tomorrow – I thought maybe you can help me find some archery gear?"

"Sure. I don't know where we'd go though." Vick said, looking surprised.

Gale shrugged nonchalantly. "We can see if there's any equipment I can borrow from the defense department. But you know 13 better than I do. You can help me find my way around."

Vick nodded, then grinned saying, "as long as I can sleep in."

Gale smiled back. "No problem. Maybe lunchtime?" Madge was supposed to get in around 1pm, so Gale would need at least enough time to explain things more before he and Vick picked her up. He could send a message to a contact in defense tonight. With any luck, they'd be able to just pick up some training equipment on their way to the hoverport.

By the time they finished the dishes, Hazelle had found a deck of cards to start a game of Euchre, and Posy had already declared they were playing boys v. girls. Gale knew that once they got started, the family would be playing the rest of the night, so he said he'd be ready in a few minutes, and went upstairs for some privacy. He identified an acquaintance working in 13 and sent a quick message about borrowing archery gear for a few days. Then he called Madge.

He got her voicemail. Groaning to himself, he left a short message saying he hoped things were good, he couldn't wait to see her, and to bring her archery equipment if she could. He tried to sound positive - he'd just have to trust that she was still coming. Luckily, once he returned downstairs his family's card game provided an excellent distraction late into the night.


End file.
